Dave suddenly looked up and locked eyes with Scott, his face full of excitement.
"Damn, bro—you went for the big score!"
"Well done!" Luis grinned at Scott, the curve of his lips clearly saying, _Congrats, you finally came to your senses._
"No warning at all, and you pulled something this major? So Mr. Stark was actually praising you for a job well done?"
Luis had thought Scott had left his old ways behind for good.
But now it looked like Scott had even bigger ambitions—he'd actually set his sights on _Tony Stark_, and even snuck into his base to steal something!
"Dude, what did you take? Was it worth anything? Did you sell it yet?"
Kurt was buzzing with anticipation, full of admiration for Scott.
He'd already been fascinated by Scott's last stunt—but this one? This was next-level.
All Kurt could do was be impressed.
"Wait, what are you guys misunderstanding here?"
Scott still hadn't recovered from the shock of the letter, but he could clearly see now that his three "bros" had totally gotten the wrong idea.
He'd promised not to steal again.
Yes, this time was technically a 'mission'—he was acting under orders. It wasn't the same thing.
Scott started to consider whether he should just call Alan or Dr. Hank Pym now, explain everything he'd been doing recently, lay it all out for these three guys too.
The panic was making it hard for him to think straight.
Maybe Dave and the others could actually help him figure out what to do.
Once Scott finished explaining, the three of them went quiet for a moment.
Luis looked up at him, eyes filled with concern.
"Bro, I get it—having a record makes it hard to land a decent job... but what you're doing now is way too risky."
Scott was a little touched by Luis's concern.
At this point, these guys were the only ones he had.
He didn't have any other friends who would listen to him vent.
Most people wouldn't want to be close to someone with a criminal past anyway.
"But this letter was from someone working for Stark, and it just said he appreciates you. That's it. Nothing more.
I think... maybe it's better _not_ to tell Dr. Pym," Dave said seriously, stroking his chin in thought.
If he hadn't known that Pym had a serious grudge against Stark, he would've thought telling the doc was the best move.
But now it seemed like the smarter choice would be to talk to that Alan guy.
Maybe _he_ could help figure this out.
After all, Alan had promised to recommend Scott to the Avengers, to help him protect New York—protect the Earth.
"Talk to Alan?" Scott hesitated.
He'd acted impulsively today, going off-plan.
Now that he was back at Dr. Pym's house, the one person he _really_ didn't want to face was Alan.
He hadn't even dared to look at Alan's face—was he angry?
"What if Alan _is_ mad?"
Luis's question struck right at the heart of Scott's worry.
"He probably won't be... but still, Scott—how do you even _know_ this guy?"
Dave asked again, clearly puzzled.
If Scott was on a first-name basis with a superhero, then there was _definitely_ more to his story.
Scott opened his mouth, but couldn't think of a single way to explain it.
He didn't understand it himself.
Why had Alan found him in the first place?
Why had he been convinced to join up after just a few words?
"Maybe... it's fate?" Scott finally said, flopping back onto the couch, too mentally drained to think about it anymore.
...
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