Parking the green 1987 Jeep Wrangler near the boardwalk, Steve turned towards the passenger, trying to exude calm and cool collectedness like Coulson always did but it came off more and nervous puppy who peed the sofa if his passengers face was anything to go by.
"You have your cell phone?" asked Steve.
"Yes," said Emmy with a smile. "And I'll call you or Daddy if I need anything, I promise. Don't worry."
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" asked Steve, glancing out the window behind his fifteen year old daughter to the growing crowd meandering along the sidewalk, all enjoying the view or the shops or each other. "I mean, we can leave and it'll be fine."
"I'm not standing up the first guy with the nerve to ask me out," said Emmy, her voice soft – a quality she never quite lost from her childhood – but eyes narrowed stubbornly. "Look, I'll check in every hour if that makes you feel better but I'm going."
"Okay," sighed Steve. He leaned over and gave Emmy a hug. "Be careful."
"Always," said Emmy before jumping out of the car and joining the crowd, making her way to the open concept restaurant where she was supposed to be meeting her date – a boy by the name of Clark.
Steve waited until he saw her enter the restaurant before pulling away from the curb and back out into traffic. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly; the super soldier could have sworn that just yesterday he was sitting in a courtroom with his husband, waiting to see it the tiny, silent little red head would be announced theirs forever and now he was dropping her off for her first date. It had been a shock when Emmy had approached him yesterday afternoon and asked if he could drive her to the boardwalk. At first, Steve thought she was meeting up with friends but then it became apparent that it was just one friend, that friend was a boy, and he had never met him. Still, Emmy was still so shy and quiet that he didn't want to tell her no and scare her off of taking a chance again, so Steve had called Tony – who was overseas at a conference – and after a short, exuberant conversation, they agreed to let their only daughter go on the date.
Emmy sat at the table near the window, the one with the best vantage point where she could see both the entrance, kitchen, and anyone approaching. Being raised by super spies and paranoid ex assassins had ensured that she was always looking for anything out of the ordinary. She had met Clark at a press conference. He was a reporter for his high school paper and she had been hiding backstage while her family was on stage. They had started talking and soon enough he asked her out.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" asked the waitress, a girl in her early twenties with spikey pink hair and a pierced eyebrow.
"Just water please," said Emmy politely. "I'm still waiting on someone."
"Okay," said the girl brightly. "I'll just grab them a water as well. My name is Juniper, yell if you need anything."
Juniper left and Emmy gazed around, trying to spot Clark in the crowds. He should have been easy to pick out with his dark hair and pale skin but she didn't see anyone who fit that description. As the minutes ticked by, Emmy began to feel more and more shame building in her chest. Finally, after an hour and a half, she had to admit that she had been stood up.
"I think I'll have the check now," said Emmy when Juniper came over yet again to offer her more soda – which she had ordered at the twenty minute mark.
"Don't worry about it," said Juniper with a small smile. "This one is on me. Not all people suck."
Before Emmy could respond, insist on paying, or just make a flustered comment, Juniper was gone, checking on a table of six college students.
Slowly, Emmy stood up and made her way to the door, pulling out her phone as she did.
"Hello?" said Emmy when the call connected. "Hey. Can you come get me?"
-Life Without Instructions-
He spotted her sitting on a bench, staring at the ocean. She was easy to see, her bright red hair made sure of that. After he parked his car, he joined her, sitting silently next to her and for a time, neither spoke.
"Thanks for coming," said Emmy softly, not removing her eyes from the waves as they crashed upon the sand.
"Anytime," replied Peter.
"No, I mean it," said Emmy, finally looking up at her older brother. "I know you were on a date with Gwen."
"You know Gwen," said Peter with a grin, throwing one gangly arm around her slim shoulders and pulling her closer when he felt her shivering in the brisk sea breeze. "She wanted to get to doing her homework anyway. I think she wants to graduate early or something."
The siblings her silent after that for almost ten minutes, allowing the waves and general background noise of people walking by fill the air between them. Eventually, Peter removed his worn red zipper up sweat shirt and made the smaller girl put it on.
"I should get home," said Emmy quietly, her hands twitching in her lap and Peter glowed with pride at how she fought the urge to revert back to sign language and silence, her old security blankets.
"Okay," said Peter, standing up and pulling her with him, easily guiding her back to his car.
When he parked the car in the private parking garage and got out, Emmy balked.
"You don't have to stay," said Emmy, fidgeting with the hem of her borrowed jacket. "It's still early, you can get back to your date."
"Naw," said Peter easily, guiding them both to the elevator. "Free food here. College food is the worst. I heard that Uncle Bruce was cooking."
Emmy smiled a little and followed Peter into the common room when the elevator doors opened.
"If Bucky ate all the chicken I swear I won't come home again until Thanksgiving," yelled Peter in way of announcing his presence.
Emmy used his distraction to slip off to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. She asked JARVIS to play 'Hey Jude' before kicking off her shoes, changing into purple sweat pants, and laying down on her bed.
In the kitchen, Peter had made himself right at home at the island, swiping carrots from the bowl in the center while Bruce toiled away at the stove, finishing up with the last of the preparations for a late dinner.
"Not that we're not happy to see you but what brings you home?" asked Natasha, taking down plates from their shelves.
"Emmy," said Peter, his face losing some of it's mirth. "She needed a ride."
"What?" said Steve, looking up from where he was washing one of the metal mixing bowls. "She said she would call me when her date was done. You didn't need to drive all the way back from school."
"Yeah well considering her date never showed up I think you can forgive her for going off script," replied Peter.
"What?" yelled the collective Avengers, turning on the twenty year old with various expressions of shock and anger.
"The guy never showed," growled Peter. "He stood her up! Her very first date and the guy doesn't show. What the hell?"
"Language," said Steve out of habit.
Bucky stood up and started marching out of the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" yelled Steve.
"Some asshole just stood up my niece," growled Bucky. "I'm going to assume you've got a shotgun Steve, so I'm going to get the shovel. Natasha, pick out one of the cars with enough room in the trunk to hold a body. Meet up in the garage in five."
"Whoa," said Bruce, holding out his hands, causing the others to pause. "Aren't we being a little hasty? Yes, we're all upset that this happened but let's not make any rash decisions."
Bucky paused, thought over his plan, and then grinned before looking up at the ceiling.
"JARVIS, would you be a dear and pull up Star Trek Into Darkness in the living room for us?" asked Bucky sweetly.
"Of course," said JARVIS and everyone could hear the eye roll in the AI's tone.
"I'll grab the brat," said Bucky, still grinning fiercely. "Bruce, you make the popcorn."
"Why the sudden change of heart?" asked Bruce, eyeing Bucky suspiciously.
"You were right," said Bucky, shrugging. "We were making rushed choices. It's much better to wait for Tony to get home."
Bruce almost regretted stopping the mob – they would have been far quicker with punishment than Tony – but the heartbroken look on Emmy's face when she joined them in the living room for the movie was enough to send that almost-regret far away.