The super soldier was good to his word. About half of my wardrobe from back home appears that evening while I'm in the bathroom. It seems like a gross misuse of funds to send over the wardrobe of a possible fugitive from England but I'm not complaining.
I decide to go with my black bodycon dress. All of my evening dresses are sleeveless, and none of my jackets have been brought, guess my bruises will be on show tonight. Hopefully the dress would be sleek, formal, but not too dressy. I had washed my hair after Steve left so I just applied my make-up and got changed. There had been a lot of supplies appearing in my room recently. Wax strips being one of them. I was thankful for that, my legs were in need of a good shave but I guess with all my moodswings and crying I wasn't trusted with a razor just yet. I tried to admire myself in the small bathroom mirror but I couldn't see more than my face and upper body. I just had to hope I looked ok.
The doctor who had examined me was the one to come and collect me. Again, I was thankful to SHEILD, they had sent someone familiar to me. His eyes lit up when he saw me. "Hey, you look great, how are you feeling?" I look at what he's wearing. A shirt and trousers; there is absolutely no way of telling how formal that is, was I overdressed?
"A bit better, thanks."
"Bruises and cuts are looking better." He comments as we head down the corridor.
"I have a good doctor." I smile.
He looks a little guiltily at me. "I really haven't been visiting as much as I should have done. I'm sorry. I've been swamped with work."
"It's fine. I wasn't expecting to be a priority, it's only a few scratches."
"My name's Dean Morgan by the way." He tells me as we enter the elevator. "I should have introduced myself when we met."
"I was so shaken up I probably wouldn't have remembered anyway." I tell him. "You had my file, but, hi, I'm Jess."
"A pleasure to meet you." He shakes my hand, grinning.
We step out of the elevator and he leads me through a crisp and clean reception area and through glass doors outside. There's a big black van waiting to take us but I take a moment to stretch my arms and take a deep breath of fresh air, Doctor Morgan waits as I do this before ushering me into the back seat. As the door closes behind him he pulls out restraints built into the car. "Security measure, sorry, something Fury wouldn't let up on."
I put my wrists out and let him cuff me to the chair. I'm in a better mood than I've been in for weeks, I almost feel like myself again. "Kinky, shouldn't you buy me dinner first though?" He laughs and I'm not sure but I think I heard the driver chuckle as we pulled out and away from my prison.
It's not long before we reach the Stark tower, the doctor leaning over to uncuff me. As I step out I'm dazzled by a few camera flares. Doctor Morgan takes my arm and steers me to the tower. "I probably should have mentioned that sorry, the pap' are always trying to sneak a few shots of the Avengers since the invasion."
The reception is filled with security, Dean sorts out our names on the guest list, we're each given a glass of champagne and we take the nearest elevator up to the party. I let out a sigh of relief as the doors open and I see some women in full length gowns and others in short cocktail dresses. There were some who hadn't even changed from the smart clothes they obviously wore to work. Like a child I follow Dean around, I don't know anyone and while not many people look my way, out of those that do, some shoot me pointedly disgusted looks. He makes polite conversation with most of the people, going to the bar for drinks occasionally, eventually settling near the middle of the room talking to a group of other doctors who he seems much more comfortable with.
I look around the room, sipping the same drink I had when I entered, suddenly feeling alone again. Finally my eyes settle on someone I recognise, Steve, chatting to several female coworkers. I don't know, why but I feel a bit of a flush of what, jealousy? There was no denying Steve Rogers was attractive, but this feeling was completely unwarranted. They probably knew him better, they were probably his friends, and even if he was dating one of them, I had no claim to him, I had only met him a few times and besides that why would he ever be interested in someone that half the people in this room hated. His eyes make contact with mine and he waves me over. Two of the women look around, one giving me the briefest of glances, the other looking me up and down. I tap Dean's shoulder and let him know, he smiles, nods and waves me off.
Awkwardly, I make my way over to Steve and the women and come to realise the circle goes further along than I had seen next to Dean, with Barton, Romanoff and some other agents. As I come to join them Barton glares at me and leaves.
"Nice dress." The girl next to me says. She's a blonde bombshell, tall, slender and wearing a midnight blue satin cocktail dress.
"Thanks." I smile. I nod over to where Barton had been. "He always do that?"
"Nah, he's usually the life of the party, don't know what's got him in so much of a huff recently. My name's Lucy."
"Jess."
"What department are you in?" I freeze, what am I supposed to tell people? "I saw you come in with Dean, are you a nurse or something?"
"Something like that." I reply quickly, taking a drink. "What about you?"
"Logistics." She half-heartedly groaned, then laughed. "It's quite boring really. I'd much rather be on the dream team."
"The Avengers?"
"Duh." She smiled. "What, have you been living under a rock or something?"
"Work keeps me busy." I lied.
"Same." She sighed. "This might be a bit of a weird question, but is there something going on between you and Doctor Morgan?"
"Nothing." I smile, her face lights up, "Only met him a few days ago, he was just my ride here."
"Cool." She clinked our glasses together, "I was thinking of asking him out next week."
"Best of luck to you."
"Thanks." She grinned. She opens her mouth to say something but a friend of hers runs over giggling and trying to drag her away. "I'll catch you again sometime!" She calls back as she runs off.
I turn and try to listen to what Steve is telling the girls but the music just got turned up and I can't quite hear him. A few other guests wander over, and I get jostled back a bit as whatever story he was telling reaches its climax and they all erupt into laughter.
I down the rest of my drink and head over to the bar. One of Tony's bots is supplying the alcohol. I take my next glass and head over to the wall near the elevator, watching everyone. I would talk to someone but chatting to Lucy has worried me about what I can and can't tell people about myself. I can see Stark with who I assume is his girlfriend as he tells some story. Barton is sat on the walkway above the bar, watching everyone, Romanoff is getting a drink and talking to someone, I've lost sight of Steve. Bruce doesn't seem to be here at all.
I turn and go down the corridor, wondering where the bathroom is. I pass by a few agents talking in the corridor and head down past the rooms. Curious, I push one of the doors open and slip inside. It's a large bedroom, complete with flatscreen television mounted on one wall, I turn to the door on the left and peak through into an ensuite.
"Madam, this room is off-limits to guests."
I jump, startled, but I can't see anyone in the room. "Hello?" I ask, "Sorry, I was looking for the bathroom."
The television lights up with a floor plan and a small room on the other side of the party is lit up in yellow. "The bathroom is located on the other side of the complex."
"Thanks." I scowl. "Who am I actually talking to?"
"My name is JARVIS, madam, I am a fully operational AI and PA to Tony Stark."
"You're a robot?" I look around the room. "That's pretty amazing, did Tony build you?"
The door I had used to come in shakes and I run into the ensuite as it opens and closes. I can hear a woman saying something and a man's throaty chuckle. There's a thud, I have to get out of here now. I step out from the room, hand over my eyes. "I'm sorry, I was looking for the bathroom and I got lost, I'll just be going…"
"Jess?!"
I lower my hand, Steve is draped across a young brunette woman, who was still kissing his neck.
"Sorry!" I run straight out to the corridor and push my way past the partiers and to the bathroom. Luckily there wasn't a queue, I lock the door behind me and sit against it. Well I fucked that up didn't I? He's going to think I was waiting in there or something. I groan and put my head against my knees. Knowing other people are going to want the bathroom, I look up, "JARVIS? Where can I go just to be alone for a bit?"
"It's a bit cold out here isn't it?" Dean asked. I was leaning against the wall around the roof, looking out over the city. JARVIS had been kind enough to let the elevator go to the roof.
"It's not too bad." I'm lying, I'm freezing, I just don't want to go back down to the party. I look back to him, his hair is being swept by the wind and his hands are in his pockets. "Well I think it's cold and you don't even have a jacket on. Come back inside."
"No." I say quickly, looking back out. "I don't fit in; I'm fine up here, really."
He sighs and slips his jacket off putting it around my shoulders and standing next to me.
"You can go back to the party, I'm fine." I tell him.
"They won't even let you have razors or pencil sharpeners in your room, you think I'm leaving you alone on a roof?"
"I'm not suicidal."
"Yeah, but we don't know what else Loki did to your mind, its better just to have some precautions until we know what we're dealing with."
"I guess." I sigh.
"What really happened?" He asked. "Down at the party, I mean. You seemed excited when we left."
"Nothing."
"Jessica, we have patient, doctor confidentiality."
"I don't want to talk about it." I turn to him. "A girl named Lucy likes you by the way."
"Really? What was her last name?"
"I don't know, she was blonde. You should ask her out."
"Nah she was probably just drunk." He waited a moment. "Honestly, you can tell me."
"Barton leaves every time I'm around, what's with that?" I ask, it wasn't the only thing that was bothering me but I wasn't about to tell him about Steve's escapades.
Dean shrugged. "He was under Loki's control too. Maybe he's wary about being around you? He's the reason we were alerted about your presence, he remembered you being brought in."
"Whoever he thinks I am, that's not me, I don't know Loki."
"I know, I believe you." He folded his arms. "With Loki gone though, it's probably just easier to project his frustration onto you."
"Should I stay away from him?"
"He wouldn't hurt you but he's in a bad place right now, just try to give him some slack." I nod. "Look, just come back down, okay? Steve's down there, I heard you, him and Doctor Banner got on well the other day."
"I'd rather stay up here. Where is Doctor Banner?"
"Something happened today and he was worried he might hulk out during the party, he's excused himself for the evening." He watched me a moment. "Is it something to do with Cap'?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
We stay there in silence for quite some time, I can tell he's bored and I start to feel bad so we head back to the party. By then, people had begun to leave, I can't see any of the Avengers hanging around. I stick by Dean, saying nothing, keeping my head down, and finally we leave. The same routine, cuffed, drive, uncuffed, led to my room and locked in. "Goodnight." He tells me as he closes the door. I strip off and jump in the shower, letting the water cascade over me for ages. When I get out, I dry off, change and go straight to bed.
