As you can tell, we're finally done(ish) with the third part, so we're going to start posting today!
~Jade
"Are you sure?" Steve asked, voice full of worry, from his seat in the back of the black SUV.
Today was Tony's birthday and he had, as per his usual standards, decided to throw a large party in celebration. However, at the last minute, the Avengers had been called in to deal with a potential global catastrophe in a secret location. Tony had insisted that the party continue and called up Rachel and Gwen to go to keep up face as well as give Pepper some real company.
With Gwen and Rachel, Tony had seen an opportunity to keep the two women busy by continually calling on them when he needed someone to do press related things for himself, and occasionally the Avengers. Tony had used the excuse that since he and S.H.I.E.L.D. had falsified records for Gwen, Rachel and even Raina, they might as well be tested. And, with the press trying to find out as much as they could about Rachel and Gwen, the faked records were tested, constantly. So Tony would call the pair and they would, with varying degrees of unwillingness, put on clothes that neither of them liked and go to Stark Tower for whatever reason Tony had called them for.
Rachel sighed, running her hand through her hair, "I have to Steve, I promised. It doesn't mean that I want to."
Steve looked over at her, not convinced that Rachel should be exposed to so many members of the press at once. A month ago, Rachel had threatened a man, following her with his camera, with his life and had nearly gotten sued for it. Both of them knew that the only reason she wasn't sued was because of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intervention.
"What about the-"
Rachel leaned over and kissed Steve on the lips to reassure him. When she pulled away, she said, "I wouldn't have agreed if I thought I couldn't handle it Steve."
Steve sighed and nodded, "Okay."
"Here you are Miss Flyte."
Rachel looked at the driver, "Thank you," then leaned over and kissed Steve again, "Be careful and come back in one piece, okay?"
"I always do," Steve smiled at Rachel. She opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle, immediately being surrounded with people who had cameras and microphones. Rae shut the door quickly and straightened up, looking for Gwen, who had also just arrived. The two of them met and grabbed each other's hands for support.
Neither Gwen nor Rachel permanently lived in Stark Tower anymore, though they did spend as much time there as they did in their own arrangements. Gwen couldn't suddenly change her desires to stay in motion, so she had spoken to Bruce and the two of them agreed to change locations every few weeks while keeping their floor on Stark Tower as a home base. Rachel had been much like Gwen, though for different reasons, she had realised that she and Steve needed their own space after she accidentally lifted everything in the building that wasn't attached to the floor while she and Steve had been making love, so Tony quickly found a comfortable apartment for them, though they had wanted a smaller one. Tony had insisted that it be a birthday present for Rachel, whose birthday was in late January. Pepper had advised them that they might as well accept because Tony wasn't going to let it drop, so they eventually agreed.
Rachel held onto Gwen's hand as they pushed past the members of the press to get into Stark Tower. Gwen felt that ever since Raina had gone to Asgard, Rachel had lost all of the control that she had over her emotions and had definitely become more volatile, which made her particularly dangerous around authority figures and the press. As they were pushed while trying to make their way into Stark Tower, Gwen had, with a great deal of effort, put Rachel into a daydream, which was something that Rachel had agreed to after the incident of her nearly getting sued.
The women quickly made their way towards the entrance to Stark Towers and things were going well until Gwen and Rachel were separated. As soon as Gwen was forced to let go of Rachel's hand, Rachel began to feel the side effect of being put under Gwen's influence, paranoia, and exposed by the people who were crowding around her.
"Are you and Captain Rogers an item?"
"How exactly did you meet Tony Stark?"
"Are you in a relationship with Tony Stark and does Miss Potts know?"
"Does the Captain approve of you constantly coming over to Stark Tower?"
Rachel tried her best to ignore the questions as she pushed past the mass of people and made her way closer to the building. She finally found Gwen and gave her an expression that begged, "Please help me."
Gwen was trying to fight her way over to her friend when they both heard the question.
"So how much does Stark pay you a night and does Pepper get in on it too?"
Rachel saw only red as she sought out the voice. She saw the man who had made the offensive comment as Gwen reached Rae and pulled her closer to the building. He was a short man with greasy brown hair and a smug look on his face. When he saw Rachel glaring at him, he stepped forward and blew her a kiss, which made Rae snap.
She broke free of Gwen's grasp and swung at him, only missing because Gwen yanked her back and yelled at him, "Yeah and you'll never get to see the tapes!" Gwen's statement caused the man's jaw to drop and everyone else to go silent, which gave them enough time to get into the building.
"What the hell Rae?" Gwen asked angrily as soon as they were safely inside.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said, "I just can't stand when they-" Gwen's look softened when Rachel's voice faltered, Rachel sounding close to tears.
"It's okay," Gwen said, thinking that Rae was looking closer to a nervous breakdown every time Gwen saw her, "I understand Rae."
Rachel nodded and the vulnerable side that had been showing was completely gone as she straightened up and headed over to the elevator. When they reached the floor the party was going to be held on, they heard Jarvis.
"Welcome Misses Flyte and Halcyone. Mr. Stark would like for me to inform you of his opinions of the fantastic entrance he felt you made."
"If he has so much time to watch us on the news, then why isn't he here?" Rachel asked Jarvis.
"He is currently en route to his destination."
"Uh huh," Gwen said skeptically.
"Doesn't matter really," Rachel said dismissively as she and Gwen walked into the kitchen. The pair of them always raided Tony's fridge before an event, though he always had so much in it, they were never sure if he noticed.
"Where were you this time?"
"San Francisco."
"Sounds fun."
"Well, we didn't do much sight-seeing, but we had a nice time," Gwen paused, "While it lasted."
"If only you hadn't agreed to come back here," Rachel joked as she reached into the fridge and started taking out freshly cut deli meats and expensive cheeses.
"Without Bruce, there's not much else for me to do in California," as she grabbed a loaf of French bread.
Rachel smiled at Gwen, "Sounds like it's going well then."
Gwen rolled her eyes but returned the smile, "It is. It's not perfect all the time, but we've also got the Hulk to work with."
Rachel laughed as she cut the loaf in half, and then cut the two halves to make the sandwiches with.
"Do you really think we should have a whole loaf of bread? That's a lot."
"I plan on drinking a lot. I'm not doing it on an empty stomach," Rachel argued.
"Fair enough," Gwen laughed as she unwrapped the meats and gave Rachel turkey, while using the ham for herself.
"We're thinking about going to South Africa next time," Gwen said after they had finished making their sandwiches.
"That's pretty far away," Rachel said as she put the cold things back into the fridge, keeping her back to Gwen.
"Bruce wants to work more with the Hulk, but we want to make sure that, if things don't go that smoothly, there won't be any people in the way."
Rachel turned around and looked at Gwen with concern, "Are you sure about going all the way to Africa?"
"I trust Bruce," Gwen said, knowing where Rachel's concern was coming from, "And I know that there's enough of Bruce in the Hulk for me to trust him too. I know it'll be fine."
"Okay," Rachel smiled.
"What about you?" Gwen asked as they sat down at the island in the kitchen.
"Things are fine, you know, when I'm not worried about Steve's safety while he's running around saving the world or the rest of the Avengers for that matter, or when I'm having to play P.A. for Tony."
Gwen laughed, "Being a P.A. for Tony is a drag. Have you written anything recently?"
"No, not since Christmas," Rachel admitted, "But I do have a part-time job being Tony's assistant," Adding after a moment, "Not even sure how that happened."
Gwen smiled, but said nothing as they ate in silence for a few moments, feeling as though things were worse than Rachel was telling her if Rae hadn't written in three months.
"How about things in the special ability category?"
"Good," Rachel nodded, "I'm getting better, believe it or not."
Gwen smiled, "I never said you were bad."
"I nearly lifted Stark Tower off of its foundation."
"Well, that only means that Steve's really good in bed and you should share details."
Rachel blushed and looked at Gwen, "You're really never going to stop asking that are you?"
"Not until you tell. I mean, you did lift everything in here five feet in the air."
"Stop reminding me. You're almost as bad as Tony."
"Well, it was his building that you could've destroyed. Speaking of, how's your apartment holding up?"
"The apartment is fine. And, don't tell Tony, but I'm really glad he picked out the one he did. It might be obscenely huge, but no one can find it, so Steve and I are actually sort of safe there." Gwen nodded, knowing that Rae was talking about the press and paparazzi who were trying to find out more about the Avengers, Gwen and Rachel.
"Well, you could just stay on the move like me and Bruce," Gwen joked.
Rachel chuckled, "I wasn't ever a big traveler; I like to pick a new spot every once in a while, but I think it would kill me to constantly be on the move, no offence."
"None taken; my idea of a great life won't fit everyone else's ideals."
"Plus, this is Steve's home and Tony would throw a hissy fit if I ever tried to quit a job that I'm not even paid for."
"That could've been his plan all along," Gwen smirked, "He just wanted you to come back here because he realised you'd be a great replacement for Pepper as his assistant." Gwen knowing that Tony called Rachel for help every few days to make sure she was doing something since she had major writer's block and it gave her a chance to take care of someone, which is what they thought was the only way they could replace Raina.
"You're probably right," Rachel laughed.
"Misses Flyte and Halcyone, you have a call from Miss Potts."
"Well by all means, don't keep her waiting."
"Hello?"
"Hey Pepper," Gwen and Rachel answered simultaneously.
"I'm so sorry but I'm going to be running late to the party."
"What?"
"How late?"
"Just about a half hour, but I was supposed to give a speech before the party actually started, because Tony couldn't be there, and now you two are going to have to give it."
"No," Gwen said.
"Sorry, I'm not good with the public," Rachel said.
"Actually, I'd like to take Rae's excuse too."
"My 'excuse' is the truth."
"Maybe, but it doesn't matter because I'm already sending a copy of the speech to you." As soon as Pepper finished speaking, Rachel felt her phone buzz, causing her to sigh.
"I've already broken it down and highlighted where each of you will be speaking. It's not very long and all you have to do is jump up there and apologise for mine and Tony's absences then talk about amazing Tony is and then commence the party. No big deal."
"Pepper," Rachel whined.
"I really am sorry Rae, I got held over and traffic's bad," Pepper said, dropping her business-like tone.
Rachel sighed, "Fine, we'll do it."
"Thank you so much, I owe you both."
"Yeah well, you're out of Swiss, so we'll call it even."
The pair heard Pepper laugh, "Okay then. Thanks again."
"You're welcome," they answered before Pepper hung up.
"I guess we practice a speech now, huh?"
"Let's finish eating first."
"Rae, have I ever told you that I like the way you think?"
So yeah, getting the ball rolling.
As always, thank you for reading and so sorry about the wait.