Everett Hargreeves woke bright and early the next morning. He ate breakfast with his sister, grabbed a quick shower, and left their apartment to meet up with their client so he could deliver the unfortunate news of how the poor stay at home father of two was right about his wife having an affair.

When he arrived at the café they would be meeting at, Everett ordered a coffee and got comfortable as he waited for his client to arrive. He occasionally shifted in his seat, mentally preparing himself.

While Everett enjoyed his work, this part of it was always the worst. He didn't want to be the guy that told someone their wife and mother of their children was cheating on them. But he didn't really have a choice, it was what he was hired to do.

A few minutes later, when Everett's coffee was nearly gone, his client finally arrived and took the seat across from him. The man immediately noticed the sealed envelope on the table and looked like he was going to be sick.

Everett cleared his throat before speaking, making the conversation short and to the point, something he'd prefer if the roles were reserved and he was finding out the love of his life had been unfaithful to him.

He told his client everything he and Estelle saw his wife do yesterday and then slid the envelope across the table as proof. Everett apologized for delivering the unfortunate news, and after his client shed a few tears, he thanked him for their services and handed over an envelope full of cash.

Everett felt dirty for taking the cash as the man wept tears of heartbreak at their small table, but he placed it in his jacket pocket regardless and stood from the table. Before leaving, he placed a comforting hand on his client's shoulder and wished him and his children the best and the man thanked him once more.

After leaving the café, Everett deposited the envelope of cash into their bank account and then called Nick Fury, giving the man the good news that they had changed their minds about joining his team of superheroes. Fury was delighted to hear and told them to be on the roof of their apartment building at ten o'clock sharp.

With Nick Fury only giving them an hour until they had to be ready to leave, Everett immediately hung up with the man and called Estelle, knowing his sister took forever to get ready and would certainly need the hour he'd given them to prepare. She assured him she would be ready by then, but Everett had his doubts.

When he arrived back at their apartment, his sister was nowhere to be found. Her bag was packed and on the table, but her purse was gone. Everett didn't have to guess where she was, as she was most likely at Starbucks getting another one of her ridiculously expensive drinks she was addicted to.

Everett disappeared into his bedroom to get his things together. He wasn't sure how long they'd be gone for, but he assumed it'd just be a couple days so he packed very light. By the time he was done, it was pushing ten o'clock so he quickly grabbed both his and Estelle's bags and went up to the roof.

As he waited, Everett texted Estelle that he was on the roof with their stuff and to meet him there. She didn't respond, but it didn't really worry him. He sensed she wasn't in any danger. In fact, he could sense she was perfectly content, which told him she did in fact get her Starbucks drink.

At exactly ten o'clock, something Everett assumed was a jet of some kind landed on the rooftop of their apartment building. He was impressed, of course, mostly due to the fact Reginald Hargreeves never had anything like this when they were growing up.

The back of the aircraft opened up and a man walked out. But it wasn't Nick Fury. This man was a little shorter, his skin much lighter, and he had a head of brown hair. Not to mention he was dressed far nicer than Nick Fury was, as he'd showed up in a suit that definitely looked tailored.

"Everett Hargreeves, I presume?" the stranger asked, holding out his hand, which he politely shook.

"Uh, yeah," Everett replied. "And you are?"

"Agent Phil Coulson," the man introduced himself. "I work with Director Nick Fury. I'll be taking both you and your sister to our base." He glanced around, searching for the other twin. "Does she not live here? I was only given one address..."

"No, no, she lives here," Everett said. "She's just running a bit late, I guess. But don't worry, she'll be here."

"It's not a problem, we can wait," Phil Coulson said, seeming not to mind.

Everett, however, did mind.

He told his sister when they needed to leave and she was late, as usual, and he had a feeling he knew why she hadn't arrived yet. Stupid fucking Starbucks.

Fifteen awkward minutes later that was mostly filled with polite smalltalk, the door to the rooftop opened up and Estelle rushed over the best she could in the boots she was wearing, purse hooked under one arm and, just as Everett expected, a Starbucks drink in the other. She waved at them, a smile on her face as she appeared slightly out of breath from rushing all the way up here.

"Sorry I'm late," Estelle apologized, casually tucking a strand of loose blond hair behind her ear.

"What took you so long?" Everett asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question, as it was obvious from the drink in her hand where she'd been.

"I was getting a Starbucks, duh," Estelle said, giving him a look. She then reached into her purse and pulled out a small brown bag, tossing it in his direction. "Here, I got you a cheese Danish. Figured it would make you less grumpy about my drink."

Everett rolled his eyes. "I'm not being grumpy."

"If you say so," she said, patting his cheek with a sarcastic smile before brushing by her brother and approaching the stranger she'd yet to be introduced to. "Hi, I'm Estelle Hargreeves. And you are?"

"Agent Phil Coulson," he introduced himself to her, a kind smile on his face. "I work with Director Nick Fury."

Estelle nodded and then turned wide-eyed toward the aircraft. "Woah, what the hell is that?"

Phil Coulson chuckled at the expression of child-like awe on her face. "That is a quinjet. Very fast. But don't worry, it's safe. It's the only way we'll be able to get to where we are going."

"Which is where, exactly?" Everett asked curiously, bending down to pick up their bags as he followed his sister and Agent Coulson toward the quinjet.

"You'll see," was Coulson's response, and the answer was nowhere near good enough for Everett. But the Hargreeves twin bit his tongue and simply followed them inside the quinjet.

There were two people sitting up front piloting the aircraft and another man who was looking down at a tablet as he sat with his back against the wall of the quinjet, his face being the only one that Everett and Estelle recognized on board, and it wasn't because he was Nick Fury.

No, casually sitting there in a pair of jeans and a brown leather jacket very similar to the one Everett always wore himself, with his blond hair neatly styled, was none other than Captain America himself. Everett couldn't fucking believe it.

"Oh, my God, you're..." Everett trailed off, unable to even finish his sentence out of pure shock of meeting such a historical figure.

Captain America stood up, extending his hand out towards Everett as he introduced himself. "Steve Rogers."

"Everett Hargreeves," he said, unable to believe he was shaking Captain America's hand right now. His thoughts were so loud he was sure his sister could hear them.

His sister then no-so-gently nudged her him out of the way while eagerly sticking her hand out towards Steve Rogers, a big smile on her face. "Estelle Hargreeves. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Steve said with a polite smile.

With the introductions over with, the three of them and Phil Coulson sat down in the seats along both walls of the aircraft, Everett and Estelle sitting opposite of them.

That's when Everett began to hear it ━ the disturbing thoughts that belonged to his sister echoing within his mind, louder than ever. She was going on and on and on about how attractive Steve Rogers was and how... well, he'd much rather forget all the things his sister was thinking about the man sitting across from them.

Unable to take it anymore, Everett nudged his sister in the side with his elbow, giving her a disgusted look. But she simply shrugged her shoulders, not even a little bit embarrassed that her brother had heard what she was thinking.

"What?" she whispered. "Look at him!"

"You're unbelievable," Everett whispered back, shaking his head.

　
❊ ❊ ❊
　

The quinjet was smooth, hardly any turbulence whatsoever. Honestly, it was hard to believe they were even flying at such an incredible speed. Everett had mentioned to his sister how this experience was already so different from their childhood, and Estelle couldn't help but agree, thoroughly impressed by the aircraft and, more importantly, their company.

Estelle could hardly take her eyes off Captain America since the journey began. More than once, Everett had to telepathically scold her to stop being so creepy or else she'd scare the guy into never talking to them again, but she didn't listen. Not that he expected her to stop staring at him the way she was. Captain America was her first crush, after all.

When they were kids, their robot mother, Grace, had told them stories about Captain America after they learned about him on the television one day. Since then, Estelle became obsessed. She would even have Grace take her to the library so she could look through the newspaper archives for articles regarding Captain America during the war. So, naturally, Everett had gotten his sister her very own Captain America trading cards for their birthday that year. They had become her most prized possessions and still were after all these years.

Just when Everett was beginning to wonder when their flight would end and they'd actually get to start their mission, he overheard the pilot inform Agent Coulson that they were about forty minutes out.

Phil Coulson acknowledged the pilot's words and then stood up from where he'd been sitting, crossing the small space to approach Steve, who was still sitting in the same seat as before, his blue eyes fixed on the tablet he'd been looking at earlier.

From what Everett could tell sitting opposite of the man, Captain America was watching footage of the incident with the Hulk at Carver University. He can still remember the day that happened. Him and Estelle had gotten home from working a case and turned on the television to unwind, and all they'd seen was the Hulk. It'd practically been on every channel.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked, looking up at Coulson.

"A lot of people were," Coulson told him. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

There was a roar from the tablet and the video of the Hulk that was still playing.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve said.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking," Coulson explained, earning an understandably confused look from Steve. He was quick to elaborate in a way that would make more sense to the man who'd been in a coma for decades. "He's like a smart person."

Steve nodded in understanding.

"Although, there was one miracle that happened after you," Coulson said after a pregnant pause.

"You mean us?" Estelle was quick to say.

Coulson's gaze shifted towards the twins, and he nodded in response. "That's right."

"Them?" Steve asked, curiously staring at the siblings across from him.

"Oh yeah," Coulson said. "October 1st, 1986. It's a day the whole world remembers."

Steve had all but forgotten about the tablet now, his attention entirely devoted to the twins. "What happened?"

"Forty three women who hadn't been pregnant before that day gave birth," Everett explained. "One of them was our mom."

"But we aren't like the others born that day," Estelle said, eager to tell Captain America everything about them. "We were the only twins, which is definitely the reason we were adopted by our father. We were... fascinating to him."

Everett snorted. "That's one way of putting it."

"Our father didn't get all forty three children, though," Estelle said. "Only nine of us."

"They were also born with powers," Coulson added to the conversation. "Which is why they're here. Director Fury thought they'd be a good help to us."

"We were only twelve-years-old when our father introduced us to the world as the crime-fighting team known as The Umbrella Academy," Everett continued explaining. "Code names and everything."

"That's right," Estelle said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're in the presence of The Mirage and The Guardian, you know. There are a lot of people who would have been just as excited to meet us as they would you."

"Once upon a time they would have been, anyway," Everett muttered.

"Yeah, those days have passed..." Estelle said, thoughtfully, her eyes drifting downwards as memories of the past came rushing back in full force, causing her to frown.

As though he could feel her emotions, Everett looked down as well, a twinge of sadness in his heart. The past had a way of making him feel that way. Both of them.

Nobody said a word for several minutes, that is, until Coulson cleared his throat, taking this opportunity to speak with Captain America again.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially," Coulson said, earning himself another smile from the man.

The twins snapped out of their daze at the sound of Coulson's voice, simultaneously looking up from the floor to pay attention to the conversation.

"I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping," Coulson continued, stumbling over his own words. It was obvious he was nervous to be having a conversation with Captain America himself.

Steve looked down, uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.

Everett felt his sister shift next to him and glanced at her. He found her biting back a laugh as she obviously noticed how obsessed Coulson was with Captain America as well. He rolled his eyes.

As if you aren't just as obsessed.

I'm not denying it, Estelle thought. But at least I can form proper sentences.

"I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice," Coulson immediately tried correcting himself.

Estelle turned to look at her brother with a smirk. See? Poor guy can't even talk.

Once more, Everett rolled his eyes at her.

Steve stood from the place he'd been sitting the entire flight and crossed the small space to stand just outside the small entrance to the cockpit. He placed his arm on the top of the archway and leaned down slightly, peering out the window at the vast body of water they flew over.

For what felt like the hundredth time since they'd been face-to-face with Captain America, Everett heard his sister's voice echoing within his mind. And her thoughts were just as disturbing as before.

This time, however, his sister wasn't admiring Steve for who he was, but rather his body. She was even comparing his strength to their brother, Luther's. But the worst part was when he got flashes of his sister being whisked away from danger in the arms of Steve Rogers, who was dressed in his vintage suit and all. If Everett hadn't felt like throwing up his breakfast before, that certainly did the trick.

Wanting nothing more than for the images and thoughts to stop, Everett nudged his sister in the ribs again. Hard. She winced this time and shot him a dirty look, which he returned with one of disgust. Estelle simply rolled her eyes at him.

"You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board," Coulson finished.

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve said.

"Oh, you are. Absolutely," Coulson assured him. "Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

Everett noticed how proud Coulson looked at having an input in the new design for Captain America's suit, and he couldn't help but smirk. The guy really was obsessed.

"The uniform?" Steve asked. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?"

"Nothing wrong with something old fashioned," Estelle chimed in, standing up and walking over to where Steve and Coulson were standing to join them.

"Stell, I swear to god," Everett groaned, running a hand over his face. He was both embarrassed and annoyed by her behaviour.

Estelle ignored him.

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned," Coulson said.

　
❊ ❊ ❊
　

They arrived at their destination forty minutes later, just as the pilot had said they would. Everett, for one, was grateful to finally get some fresh air after having to endure his sister's flirting and disturbing thoughts the entire flight.

The quinjet landed on what Everett could only describe as an aircraft carrier used in the military. Although, it wasn't entirely the same. This one looked different from the ones he'd seen in movies or on television. It seemed larger, more expensive. Clearly, SHIELD had some funding.

When the ramp lowered, Everett stood and reached for their bags, but Coulson waved him off, assuring him that another agent would collect their things and bring it inside for them. Everett hesitated, not entirely convinced, and glanced at his sister. Estelle only shrugged, offering him a reassuring look that didn't reach her eyes. He sighed, moving away from their belongings.

The two of them exited the quinjet together, a few steps behind Coulson and Steve. Once they were out in the sun again, Everett took a moment to close his eyes and breathe in the fresh air. It always cleared his head, always relaxed him. He was sure his sister could feel how content he was.

Finally, Estelle thought, capturing his attention, this isn't going to be a boys club after all.

Everett, at first confused, followed her gaze and only after spotting the red-headed woman walking towards them, he understood what his sister had been talking about and immediately rolled his eyes at her.

You are so annoying.

Says you.

As soon as Coulson caught sight of the red-headed woman, he turned towards her. "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers and Everett and Estelle Hargreeves."

"Ma'am," Steve politely greeted.

"Hi," Romanoff said to him before turning towards Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."

"See you there," Coulson said before heading off in the direction he was needed.

Everett watched Coulson leave for a moment and only looked back at the others in his company when his sister brushed by him, quick to step forward and introduce herself to the red-headed woman.

"Estelle Hargreeves," she introduced with a smile, extending her hand in a polite manner. "I gotta say, I am so happy not to be the only woman here. I grew up with six brothers. Not an experience I wanted to repeat if I'm doing a repeat of the whole superhero team thing."

"Hey!" Everett protested.

"Natasha Romanoff," the red-headed woman replied, a smirk growing on her face as she stared at the blonde woman.

"This is my brother, Everett," she said, gesturing towards him. "He's probably my favourite brother."

He scoffed. "Probably?"

Estelle didn't turn to look at her brother over her shoulder, which she could tell only annoyed him more.

Their antics amused Natasha, as the smirk on her face only widened, eyes gleaming with amusement. Though, eventually, the red-head turned to look at Steve as the four of them started walking away from the quinjet.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," Natasha told him. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Steve asked.

"They're vintage," Natasha continued. "He's very proud."

"I don't know about you, but I like a good vintage," Estelle chimed in, turning her smile on Steve.

Everett's eyes widened. Oh, my God, please shut the fuck up and stop flirting with Captain America.

Estelle abruptly turned around and gave her brother a look, immaturely sticking her tongue out at him. In response, he simply rolled his eyes, unphased as always by her childish behaviour.

When the twins finally looked away from each other, they found themselves on the receiving end of two confused expressions. Sometimes, they forgot not everyone knew they could telepathically communicate with each other. For so long, everyone in their life had known they could do it and they really hadn't gotten close enough to anyone since leaving their family for them to notice it.

"Uh," Natasha began, glancing between them in confusion, "everything... good?"

"It's nothing," Everett assured her.

"I wouldn't call it nothing," Estelle muttered.

Before anyone else could say another word, something piqued the interest of Captain America, as he walked away towards another man standing some ways away from them. They followed after him.

As they got closer, Everett began to recognize the stranger's face, as he'd seen it plenty of times on the news. But it was until the man turned around that he was to properly identify him as Bruce Banner. He couldn't believe Fury had recruited the Hulk for this mission as well. It made him wonder who else was onboard, and if they were in over there heads here.

"Dr. Banner," Steve greeted, extending his hand towards the man.

"Oh, yeah. Hi," Bruce said, shaking his hand. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said.

"Is that the only word on me?" Bruce wondered.

"Only word I care about," Steve assured, offering him a slight smile.

Bruce took the sentiment with a nod. "It must be strange for you, all of this," he said, motioning around them.

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Steve replied, staring off in the distance to where a group of men in training are running laps, a faraway look in his eyes as he seemed to be reminiscing about the days he spent in the army.

"Gentlemen, Miss Hargreeves," Natasha interrupted, arms crossed in front of her, "you might want to step inside. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."

Before Everett could question why they wouldn't be able to breathe properly, the entire carrier began to shake. He reached out and grabbed his sister's arm to keep her steady as he looked around them. The entire crew ━ excluding Natasha ━ were either running towards the nearest door to go inside or pulling on oxygen masks.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" Bruce said incredulously, sarcasm laced in his voice.

The four of them ━ Steve, Bruce and the twins ━ curiously made their way towards the edge of the carrier. They peered down over the edge, expecting to see the carrier making preparations to go underwater. Instead, they witnessed as the carrier began to rise above the water, an engine emerging from beneath the water's surface as what they once believed was a typical aircraft carrier began taking flight.

The Hargreeves twins and Steve were in complete awe as they were sprayed with some water from the engine that'd once been completely under water. Beside them, Bruce smiled in disbelief, shaking his head.

"Oh, no," he said with even more sarcasm than before. "This is much worse."

Everett and Estelle turned towards each other after a moment, sharing big goofy smiles because this was, without a doubt, the coolest fucking thing they have ever seen. Estelle wrapped her arm around his and leaned into him. In response, Everett reached up and held the hand she had wrapped around his forearm, giving it a squeeze. And then, in unison, they thought, Coolest job ever!

Natasha let them have a few more seconds to stare awestruck at the engine before insisting they go inside, seeing as none of them had oxygen masks and would need to remain indoors for their own safety.

Reluctantly, they all followed her inside where Natasha began leading them down various halls until eventually, two doors opened up and they had entered the bridge of the ship. Immediately, Everett noticed Nick Fury standing at the command center, with Phil Coulson at a computer nearby.

They walked further through the bridge, awestruck once more. Everett and Estelle found themselves staring out the massive window that covered a majority of the room, blown away by the view.

"This is..." Estelle trailed off, lost for words.

"I know," Everett breathed.

They eventually looked away from the glorious view, watching as Steve approached Nick Fury and pulled out some money, handing it over to him. With a faint smile, Fury took the money and pocketed it. Estelle knew a bet when she saw one, and wondered why Steve owed a man like Fury money.

Fury then crossed the room to approach Bruce Banner, extending a hand towards him, which the doctor reluctantly shook. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce replied. "So, uh... how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Fury told him.

"Oh yeah, where are you with that?" Bruce asked curiously.

Fury turned towards Agent Coulson to explain. Nearby, Natasha crouched down to look at a computer screen, reaching out and swiping to the left.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Coulson explained. "Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha said worriedly from her crouched position.

Bruce removed his jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his buttoned shirt. "You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury inquired.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," Bruce instructed. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." He finished rolling up his sleeves and tossed his jacket over his arm. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

Fury nodded in response. "Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

Natasha stood from her crouched position, walking off towards a door behind them, leading Bruce down the hall.

"You're gonna love it, Doc," she told him. "We got all the toys."

Estelle then left her brother's side, walking towards Fury as if she was on a whole other mission from the one they'd been recruited for. Everett followed behind, remaining in ear-shot distance.

Once she had reached the man, Estelle folded her arms across her chest. "My rug still smells of beer."

Fury raised a brow at her in surprise. Meanwhile, a short distance away, Everett closed his eyes and sighed. Of course she'd bring up the damn rug right now.

"It's gonna have to be sent off to be cleaned properly," Estelle continued. "I figure anyone who can afford a big, fancy ship like this could afford to have one small area rug cleaned."

"You want me to pay for your carpet to get cleaned?" Fury asked, as though he wasn't sure he heard her correctly.

"My father could have afforded to have it cleaned and he doesn't have one of these fancy ships," Estelle said, matter-of-factly. "He doesn't even have a small one."

Fury laughed, whether in amusement or not, they couldn't tell, but he shook his head and reached into his jacket, pulling out a business card and handing it over to her.

"You call that number after we've stopped the crazy God and we'll see about getting your carpet cleaned," Fury told her before walking off, shaking his head some more, most likely in disbelief of what just happened.

Estelle strolled back over to her brother, waving the card around like she'd won the lottery. "And just like that, dear brother, my favourite area rug will be good as new and I won't have to replace it, after all."

"You honestly believe he's going to help you get the rug sent out to be cleaned?" Everett asked in disbelief. "Honestly, Stell, he has far more important matters."

"Why else would he give me this card?"

"To shut you up?" Everett guessed.

She playfully hit his arm. "You're just jealous because Nick Fury likes me better."

He raised a brow at her. "In what world does Nick Fury like you better than me when all you've done is yell at him about a rug?"

"Everyone likes me better than you," Estelle said with a teasing smile. "It's common knowledge. Just ask anyone."

"You really are so annoying," Everett complained.

"So I've heard," Estelle said, her smile widening into a full blown grin. "But only by you, which only further proves my point. Face it, loser, people love me."

　
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a/n: Estelle showing up to the quinjet fifteen minutes late with a Starbucks is just so in character for her, and it gets me every single time 😂

Anyway, Liz and I really hope you're all enjoying this series! We know there's only been two chapters for each of our fics so far, but we've been having the time of ours lives planning and writing everything together. Seeing all your comments really makes all that time worth while, and we truly appreciate the support we've been receiving for It Takes Two so far!