Ever since the wasp suit was perfected, and Hope became a more hands-on member of the team, Hank had been on edge. Even their surveillance missions gave the old man heart palpitations.

("Scott don't you dare turn that radio off," Hope warned, but the playful grin on her face deceived her demanding tone. "You're gonna give my dad a heart attack."

His finger dangerously hovered above the off switch of the radio perched on the dash board of the black Honda Civic they were seated in. Hope was in the drivers seat like always, crediting it to the fact that she did not spend any time behind bars where there's no opportunity to drive.

"Or what?" Scott teased back, with the look on his face like he had nothing to lose.

Out of nowhere a loud crack of thunder rang from the sky, the beginning sign of a California storm. It knocked Scott off his guard long enough for Hope to shove his arm away from the radio, and pin it to his chest. Scott, never one to be a quitter, fought back defiantly, and by the time the thunder sounded again, the pair was tangled around each other in the small confines of the car like a fly in a spiders web (ironic, right?).

Hope, now basically in Scotts lap, looked down at him with mischief in her eyes. "We really should focus on the mission," she said, the rule follower within her overtaking her playful side.

"You're probably right," Scott replied, but still none of them moved.

Instead Scott pulled her into a soft kiss, and suddenly they were making out like two kids at a drive in movie. Their labored breathing fogged up the windows around them, really going against the point of a car stake-out.

A soft moan escaped Hopes mouth, bringing a smile to Scotts face as he ran his fingers through her hair. All was well until they were interrupted by a knock on the passenger side window.

Through the fog, both could see none other than Hank Pym staring back at the two of them, eyebrows furrowed, looking well, like a father who had just caught his daughter in the middle of a make out session.

Surprised, and very, very (emphasis on very) embarrassed, Hope jumped off of Scott and back into the drivers seat kneeing him in the groin in the process. Scott groaned in pain, as Hope rolled down the window her father was still angrily peering through.

"Uhhh, hey dad," Hope states, pink rising up her neck and onto her cheeks. If this whole situation wasn't so awkward, Scott might have teased her about making the always impassive women blush. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the lab?" She asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching this building for the very important piece we need to get started on the quantum machine?" Hank counters, changing the subject in the process.

"That's what I was saying," Scott contributes now that he is no longer seeing stars. "But than Hope over here just had to pounce on me and start kissing me," he says, causing Hope to elbow him in response.

It's a parents job to be overprotective, but Hank thinks Scott and Hope might be the death of him.

Hank shook his hand in disapproval. "I'm not mad, just disappointed," he says. "Oh, and Scott..."

"Yes, sir?" Scott answers.

"You're full of shit," he says, and walks away).

After that traumatizing event, Scott and Hope tried to remain professional at work. It's not like they were dating or anything serious like that, so there was no reason for things to be weird. At least that was what Hope told Scott, because if it were up to Scott he would have no restraint toward showing PDA in the workplace. He never was one for modesty.

They were sparring in the training room for the first time in a while, getting back into a rhythm (the one where Hope punches Scott in the face, and he pretends that it doesn't feel like running head first into a brick wall — prison really didn't teach him anything).

They're in their stances. He swings, and she ducks, and back and forth. They continue like that for a while until Scott, always the more forward one, decides to break the silence.

"So, when are you gonna stop ignoring me?" He asks, feeling unusually brazen.

She kicks him in the side, and he winces. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on," he says, dodging another punch. "Ever since the," he pauses, and whispers, "incident, it's like I'm completely invisible," he finishes, trying to get his point across firmly, but it comes out more like a childish whine.

"Cheer up champ," Hope says, stifling a laugh. "It has nothing to do with you. I just don't wanna risk giving my dad a reason to bench me," she says, and this time, Scott knows she's being serious.

He lowers his gloves, soaking in what she said, and she does the same. "You know how protective he is. It was hard enough convincing him to let me be the Wasp, and we've come too far to let him take that away," she states.

Scott hears the sincerity in her words. Being ant man means a lot to him too, and he would never want to do something to jeopardize that.

"I totally understand," he says, putting out his fist to signal the end of their training session.

She does the same, but then without warning, she's kicked his feet out from under him, and pinned him against his back on the mat. Her face lingers dangerously over his, as her legs straddle his torso. "But, if I'm not mistaken, it's a Friday night, and that means my dad is out playing poker," she says, licking her lips.

"So what you're saying is..." Scott looks to his right and left like he's playing cops and robbers. "The coast is clear?"

"Shut up," she states, and leans down to kiss him, and Scott later leaves the gym feeling anything but invisible.

***

Hope is better than him at the super hero thing in every single way, so even as Scott attempts to navigate his way through their non-relationship, and finds himself falling more and more for the now long haired brunette, he never really worried when she'd go out on solo missions. She could take care of herself, and that was all there was to it.

That's what makes the phone call he receives in the middle of Cassie's school play, all the more alarming. Maggie, Paxton, and Luis (yes Luis is there of course), all give him a concerning look as he rises from the auditorium seat. He spews out quick apologies, and tells them that he'll explain later, before he rushes out of the school and heads to the lab, his heartbeat pounding louder and louder in his chest with every passing mile.

When he arrives to the secret lab, he finds Hank, looking as disheveled as ever, yelling on the phone about some sort of false information. He's pacing back and forth frantically, the same way he's watched Hope do hundreds of times in his living room, while she's attempting to close an important business deal.

Hank hangs up shortly, and slams his phone down on the lab counter, all his reservations and fears about letting his daughter into this unpredictable world coming to light.

"It's not your fault," Scott says, unsure of if Hank even knows he's present. "She would have found a way to be the wasp anyway she could — you know how stubborn she is when she sets her mind to something."

"She gets that from her mother," Hank confesses.

"So, what's the plan?" Scott asks as he begins to suit up, shear determination spread across his face, because unlike Janet, they're going to find Hope.

Scott feels like he's fought an entire goddamn militia by the time he gets to Hope. What kinda fucked up information did Hank receive?

When he finds her, her hands are tied above her head, hanging from a rope off the ceiling. Her suit is off, leaving her in black leggings and the white tank that is now covered in red. There's a nasty cut on her lip, and her one eye is swollen shut, with the other one closed. He thinks she's unconscious, but when he goes to check her pulse, she jolts awake, and begins to flail her body, most likely irritating other injuries.

"Hope, stop it's me, it's Scott," he says, taking off his helmet so she can see that it's really him, and that's when she calms down and opens her one good eye.

"I knew you'd come," she whispers like it's a secret.

"What the hell happened?" He asks.

"It was a trap," she says, in a hoarse voice. Scott wonders when's the last time she got a drink of water. "They wanted info on the Pym particle, but I didn't tell them anything," she says shaking her head, a lone tear sliding down her cheek, mixing with the blood and dirt plastered on her face. "They tried, but I didn't say a word."

Scott doesn't know what to say. For once in his life he's at a loss for words. Normally he would *insert a joke here* to lighten the mood, but this time he doesn't think it'll do the trick.

He cuts her down quickly. Her legs are trembling, so he wraps his arm around her waist, and they both move slowly to the steel exit of this prison.

He put his hand on the handle and is about to turn the nob when... "Wait!" She yells. "They took my suit, we need to find it," she says weakly, but surely.

"Hope, there's no time. We need to get out of here before they come back. You're dad will disarm the suit from the lab so they can't access it and gather any data," Scott says, trying to reason with her.

She shakes her head, and attempts to push him away. "No, I need to get it back. He'll never make me a new one, he'll never trust me to go out again," she rambles on, talking more to herself than Scott.

Scott sighs and looks at his watch. They've already been here for too long. He'll drag her out of this place if he has to, to make sure that she's safe, but he really hopes that it doesn't come to that, for everyones sake.

Her body is trembling worse than it was before. Her shoulder is definitely dislocated from hanging from a rope for so long, and he can only imagine what other damage is hiding beneath her clothes.

"Hope, listen to me. You're dad is protective, and brilliant, and bad with feelings, but I can tell how much he loves you, and yeah he's screwed up in the past, but who hasn't? He knows what being the Wasp means to you, and he'd rather risk losing you every time you put the suit on, then lose you for good by not letting you do what you were born to do. So, please, please, just take my hand, and trust that once we get out of here everything is going to be alright," Scott says, practically begging her.

"I trust you," she says, and that's all he needs to hear before he's ushering her through the tunnel and back up into the exit vehicle, and on their way to freedom.

She zones in and out during the ride, and Scott has to force her to go to the hospital. He helps her get into the hospital gown, and can't help but notice the black and blue painting her back. She's on edge, and she's in pain, and Scott can tell that she's tired because she doesn't even react to them putting an IV in her vein and giving her morphine, which says a lot about a person who won't even take aspirin for a migraine.

Hank arrives looking worried, and when he spots Hope in the hospital bed, bent, but not broken, it takes everything in him not to run to her. He makes his way over, and sees Scott, sitting at her side, grasping her hand in his own while she sleeps. He thinks back to all the ways they defy him and annoy him when he's giving mission briefs, and how Hope could probably do better, but then he sees the way Scott is looking at her, and maybe they are meant to be (though he would never say that if they asked).

Hank will always worry about his only daughter, but maybe with Scott around, he can worry a little less.

He clears his throat, and Scott looks up, and grows flustered. "Hank, hey, I'll leave you two alone," he states fumbling with his words.

"Like hell you will," Hank says, motioning with his hands for Scott to stay put. "She needs you more than she thinks she does, so just be patient, she'll figure it out eventually," he says, speaking from experience.

Scott smiles softly, and Hank finds a seat to the other side of her. They both stare at the monitor until she wakes up.

"We're you guys scared?" She asks, and they both shake their head and deny ever being worried that she wouldn't make it, but the look in their eyes says otherwise.

"Now that you're finally awake,"Hank begins. "I thought I could tell you about some of the upgrades I'm going to make to your new suit."

Hope smiles in response even though her face is probably very sore, and she squeezes Scotts hand with her own. She was right to trust him.

Hope turns to face Hank, and says in her no-bullshit tone, "I'm listening."