Show Me That You're Human
Chapter 9: Specifically Cats
It had been a long time since Steve had been this content with life. Even before he went under there had always been the stress and constant hum of war. He'd never gotten a chance to appreciate the quiet life he'd had before this body. It wasn't that his life was quiet now, no it was almost the opposite after today – it was just that he'd never been able to appreciate little things before and now he could. There wasn't a war going on so downtime had been filled with music and books and things he had missed during the war and his big freeze.
He entertained himself for the minute, as the blood and soot swirled down the drain in his shower, with the thought of what his life would have been like if he'd never been frozen. Would he and Peg have had a small house with a white fence and a dog? Would they have stayed on at SHIELD and gone on to lead the agency together? Would Rory be his granddaughter?
He scoffed at the last thought. Rory was far too pretty to be his granddaughter. Far too hot-headed to have ever shared his genes. It's what made her her, he supposed. Dugan's nature was more prominent in her and he liked that. He was happy about that. She wasn't a constant reminder of Peg even if they were related. He was also happy that Peggy had been happy and had gotten her family. Rory was living proof of that too.
It actually gave him hope that he'd find that one-day too.
The positivity of the thought shocked Steve.
He hadn't thought like that since before he woke up and Peggy was the focus of positive thoughts. For the first time since he'd awoken, 9 long weeks ago, that he was positive about something. A smile spread across his face at the hope that filled him.
The idea of meeting someone did terrify Steve. He wasn't good at talking to women. He tripped over his tongue and stumbled on his words, often saying the wrong thing and offending them. Modern women especially intimidated him, with how liberated they were and how completely different they thought and acted. Not to mention he was exceptionally attracted to strong-minded women and they were usually the ones that made him lose his tongue.
But it would happen one day, as he'd been talking to Doctor Holstein about and when it did maybe he'd be ok with it happened.
Maybe. He'd just have to wait and see.
The smell of the Bolognese that's he'd started cooking before his shower wafted into his bathroom and he turned the taps off, stepping out and drying off before he went back to the kitchen.
He was just throwing pasta onto boil when Rory knocked at his door.
"Open." He called over his shoulder, tightening his grip on the towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced at the stove clock and saw she was early.
"I'm kind of jealous you have an actual apartment and I have the equivalent of a hotel room." Rory's voice filled the kitchen. Steve glanced over his shoulder and smiled, catching her standing and peering around, dressed in black, skin-tight pants and a loose fitted yellow top. He hair was out and slightly damp drying in light waves, signalling she hadn't been long out of the shower either. "You have a proper kitchen. I totally got the raw end of the deal!"
"It's not huge." He chuckled, turning back to the stove. "Nothing fancy."
"It's enough." She sighed. "Oooh can I touch it!?" Her voice filled with glee and Steve had to look around again to know what she was talking about.
He found her eyeing his shield and he laughed.
"Sure. " He nodded. "Not like you can break it."
He turned to face her, watching as she slipped her arm into the grips and lift it easily. It made her look tiny in comparison, like a child playing with a toy. It was a nice sight.
He smiled as she straightened and held it in front of her.
"How do I look?" She asked proudly.
"You're not quite holding it right." He placed the spoon down, licking some sauce off his thumb as he walked to her. "You gotta hold it higher." He lifted her arm. "Tighten across here." He flattened his hand in the middle of her back, making her pull her shoulder blades back and down.
"It's a lot lighter than it looks." She commented, glancing at him. The grin was still in place as she slowly mimed fending off someone with the shield. She all but disappeared behind it. He thought it looked great.
"It's very deceptive." He agreed, smiling. Something on the stove hissed at them and he hurried back into the kitchen.
"Something smells good. I bought a bottle of wine, by the way. I don't even know if you drink it, but I can't come empty handed." He heard the clunk of his shield softly hitting the wall.
"Oh great." He said, nodding. "Yeah I do drink it, even if it does nothing." He chuckled. He felt her move into the kitchen and turned to find her opening and closing cupboards in the search for glasses. "This one." He cocked his head to the left, indicating the cupboard beside him.
She grinned and bumped him with her hip as she opened the door, rising up on her toes to reach the glasses.
"So do you make it a habit to cook in just a towel or is this something special for me?" She teased as she placed the glasses on the counter, pouring the golden liquid into them with an impish grin on her face.
Steve's hand went to his towel to make sure it was tightly attached to his body. "You're early." He defended, his cheeks flushing. "You weren't meant to be here for another 20."
"I got bored." She shrugged, bringing the wine up to her lips. He didn't miss her eyes lingering on his torso and he dutifully peered down at the bubbling sauce on the stove in front of him.
Rory tore her eyes away. Her imagination hadn't done him justice since the last time she'd seen him shirtless. Of course, last time she'd been mad at him and she hadn't been paying attention to his chest.
"Food smells amazing." She commented as she walked to the breakfast bar to take a seat.
"My Mother's recipe, when we could afford the ingredients." He smiled. "It's almost done." He licked his finger and Rory couldn't believe the sight was so sinful.
"You should probably put on some pants." She pointed out, taking another big sip of wine.
"At least." He grinned, retreated into his room.
She shook her head. The man had a sense of humour she hadn't been prepared for. It was dry and a tad cynical and just a little bit dirty. She liked it.
Her phone trilled in her pocket and she dug it out, welcoming the distraction.
"Hey Mags." She greeted her sister with a smile.
"Hi honey, just a quick phone call to ask what you're doing next Saturday night?" Maggie asked. Rory's smile turned to a frown.
"No idea considering it's only Tuesday… Why? Are you coming to town?"
"No, no I wish." There was a pause that Rory didn't much like. "I have a friend heading to New York –"
"No." Rory said immediately. She knew where this was going. The friend was most likely male, single and a "really nice guy". It wasn't the first time Maggie had set her up like this.
"and I want you to meet him."
"No." Rory shook her head again.
"Please Roar? He's nice! He's a civil defence attorney whose been asked to handle insurance claims from the invasion." Maggie barrelled on, ignoring Rory's protests.
"No, Mags. I don't want to meet him."
"Too bad. I already told him Saturday night was a go."
Rory groaned and pressed her palm to her head. "Maggie, why?! You can call him right now and tell him I'm busy!"
"But you're not!"
"But I might be!" She glanced at Steve's closed bedroom door and she wondered what Steve was doing that night. "I don't want to go on another blind date, Mags."
"You need to find someone, Rory. You can't live your life with your head in your job!" Maggie said, sticking with the tried and tested 'ticking clock' argument. "Simon is really nice. He's 36, tall, brown-ish hair, brown eyes – "
"36?"
"Ish."
Rory groaned. "Maggie that's 10 years older than me!"
"Age is just a number…" Maggie chimed. "Oh dear, look at that. I have to go… I'll text you the details and pass your number along. Bye babe."
"Maggie, no! Don't you dare… You text him right now and –" She groaned as the line went dead. "Shit." She swore, scowling at her phone.
"Anything the matter?" Steve's voice made her jump. She hadn't heard him re-emerge from his room. She noted, with slight disappointment, that he had put on a tight, white shirt as well as a pair of grey sweat pants.
"Nothing, just my lousy sister setting me up on a blind date." She rolled her eyes as he passed by her to flick the stove off and reach for dishes to serve the food.
"Ah Bucky used to set me up on them all the time. The looks on the poor girls faces when they saw a 4ft-nothing kid who could potentially break in the wind were both heartbreaking and annoying." Steve gave her a sympathetic smile. "However you're a beautiful woman and he'd be crazy to give you that look."
Rory snorted and shook her head, bringing her glass up to her lips for a sip of wine. "Maggie's a lawyer and all her lawyer friends are completely boring and usually old." Rory rolled her eyes. Steve watched her, waiting for her to continue.
He slid a bowl toward her and made himself comfortable on the other side of her at the breakfast bar. "She's always telling me my 'clock is ticking'" She quoted with her fingers, "That 'it's about time I settled down and found a man'." She felt another eye roll coming so she stuck some food into her mouth. "Oh wow." She said around it as she chewed. "This is amazing."
"Thanks." Steve chuckled, twirling pasta around his fork. "What does she mean 'clock's ticking'?"
"She thinks I'm never going to settle down and find someone. I don't see it as a big deal but family is important to Maggie, so is making your own family… I just…" Rory sighed and shrugged a shoulder as she trailed off.
"Well, sure it's important. I want nothing more than to have what your grandparents and my old friends have; a house, a family, coupl'a kids…" Steve clenched and unclenched his jaw at the thought she'd had it without him. He chewed thoughtfully for a second. "But there's no sense in rushing it. It'll happen when it happens."
"Yes!" Rory exclaimed. "Thank you!" She ate another couple of bites before she spoke again. "She worries about me, I guess. I'm the baby and my past relationship history isn't so hot, so I guess she thinks I've given up completely – which isn't the case I don't think…I'm just cautious." Cautious was one word for it. 'Guarded' was another.
Steve turned his head and watched as she stared at the forkful of food hovering about her bowl. "Cautious?" He prompted, wondering what she meant.
Rory let out a small groan. "My last boyfriend was kind of an asshole." She said simply, not wanting to elaborate. "It didn't end overly great and, I've been single for a while." She sighed, shaking her head. "I guess I'm just cautious of jumping into something that serious with someone again because it fucking hurt when it crashed and burned around me." Rory stuck some more food in her mouth, making herself stop talking.
Steve watched her silently, taking in her sad yet somewhat frustrated expression. He felt for her, he really did. Being pushed into things was generally a bad situation, but being pushed into something you really weren't ready for was a different story. He'd been in that position more than once and it was uncomfortable to say the least.
"I've never had a girl to call my own, so I guess I know how you feel with the apprehension about getting into something serious." Steve said after a few beats of silence. "I mean, I've been on dates. Mostly they were doubles with Bucky and the dames weren't interested in me in the slightest but I guess I was more interested in getting into the army than settling down. Figured there was no rush."
"and there's not." Rory agreed. "I think you overestimate how shallow women were." Rory chuckled, glad the focus was off her past relationship. "I don't think you looked bad at all."
"You never saw me in the flesh. I wasn't great. Dames want a man who can protect them, who can provide for them. I almost passed out climbing a flight of stairs thanks to my asthma." Steve shook his head, still not really believing how much had changed about his body.
"What if you'd come across a dame who could have taken care of herself?" Rory propped her head up on her hand and looked at him.
"You didn't find many of those around in the 40's ma'am. Not to be disrespectful, but women in the 40s were nothing like they are today." He shook his head, meeting her eye easily.
"Grandma Peg was one of them."
"Peg was an anomaly." Steve chuckled.
"and she was infatuated with you before the serum."
"She hid it well."
Rory shook her head, taking another sip of wine. He phone buzzed in front of her and she groaned.
Hi Rory, It's Simon. Maggie gave me your number. Looking forward to Saturday night!
"Hypothetically speaking, if I murdered my sister would you help me cover it up?" She glanced at him, giving him a light smile.
Steve chuckled. "Well, sure I guess. What's happened?"
"Simon has my number. Maggie must have given it to him." She slid the phone across to him so he could read the message.
Steve picked up the phone and read the words on the bright screen.
"Can you tell him you're just not interested?" He held the phone out to her. She took it, her fingers sliding against his.
"Maggie would kill me and I'd never hear the end of it. You're so ungrateful Rory, I set this up for you. Simon is my friend!" She mimicked her sister, pulling a face. "It's honestly easier to go along with it and then let him down myself."
She put the phone down after she tapped out a quick reply. "Enough texting, I'm sorry it's rude."
"It's fine. I'm coming to understand technology like that is important to people these days." Steve glanced at his own phone, sitting uselessly on the benchtop beside his keys.
"Yeah and Pa tells me constantly that's the problem." Rory laughed and stood, picking up her plate and stacking it on Steve's empty one. He made a move to grab them back but she swung them out of his way. "You cooked, I clean."
"You're a guest." Steve protested, standing and following her around the bar to the kitchen.
"I'm a neighbour." She shook her head, placing the dishes in the sink and turning the tap on. "All I'm doing is rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher."
"The what?" Steve frowned, leaning his hip against the counter beside her. He folded his arms as he watched her.
Rory knocked him out of the way with her hip. She chuckled when she only reached his upper thigh and not his actual hip, and when he didn't actually move an inch. He stepped back anyway, smiling lightly.
"The big, shiny metal thing down here that washes your dishes for you." She pulled open the draw and stacked the plates.
"Oh is that what it does?" Steve scratched the back of his head, looking more than sheepish.
"Yes, the wonders of technology." Rory laughed. "Haven't you used it before?"
Steve shook his head. "I don't usually eat in my suite." He shrugged. Rory turned and grabbed the pots off the stove to rinse and stack too.
"Why not?"
"I don't like being alone and being in the kitchen downstairs is nicer. There's usually someone there" He replied honestly and it surprised Rory. The past couple of weeks had been cryptic replies, it was nice to see him opening up.
"I guess that's fair." She nodded and fiddled with the machine. It sprang to life and Steve couldn't help but be impressed. "I like the solitude but it's nice to know there's usually always someone downstairs. Even in the middle of the night." She smiled at him. "Do you want another glass of wine?" She asked, reaching for their glasses to refill them.
"Uh yeah, sure." Steve nodded. The phone beeped again and Rory groaned. "Simon?"
She read the message, rolled her eyes and placed the phone back on the bench. "Yup. Just being friendly. Trying to get me to talk I guess. Poor guy." She sighed, shaking her head, tipping the bottle to pour the golden liquid. "Have you figured out how to use yours yet?"
"Not really." Steve replied, sheepishly. "I honestly forget I have it."
"C'mon, let's go sit. I'll teach you how to use it." She offered, picking up his phone with hers. He followed her, glass in hand and joined her as she made herself comfortable on his sofa.
He watched for the next hour as she explained the ins and outs of the Stark Phone. It wasn't as complex as he'd first thought and he had to admit he was impressed with all that it could do, even if he didn't know what some of it meant.
"What's the internet?" He questioned her and she gave him a blank look.
"It's… well… it's…" She stumbled for a response and came up blank. "I've never been asked to explain the internet before." She started to laugh and he smiled. She shifted on the couch until she was facing him, her legs crossed under her. She held up her hands. "Alright… imagine a giant library with every piece of information the world has to offer, ok?" She paused to make sure he was following. "Now add in videos of cats and music and you have the internet."
"Cats?"
"Specifically cats doing funny things." She nodded, holding up a finger for emphasis.
"Right." He blinked, confused by her answer. Rory bit her lip and sighed.
"I guess that's going to have to be a lesson for another day, but it's so helpful I promise." She chuckled, shaking her head. She placed their phones on the coffee table and sat back into the couch cushions, stretching her long legs out in front of her.
She watched him for a moment, her amber coloured eyes on him, taking in every detail that she could. It still stuck her as amazing, sometimes, that he was actually real. He'd lived in a time she could only dream about and she'd grown up learning about him. She both bizarrely knew him and didn't. It was amazing.
"Tell me about the 30s." She asked abruptly, draining her wine glass.
"The 30s?" Steve questioned as she leant forward to place it on the table.
"Yeah, like your life before now. Where'd you grow up? What were your parents like? What was Bucky like?" She ran a hand through her head. "Things Grandma wouldn't know very well." She smiled and Steve couldn't help but return it. Talking about his life before the serum wasn't exactly a strong point of his but he knew he could trust Rory with his life so he acquiesced.
"I… I can show you I guess." He said, a smile spreading across his face that Rory wasn't quite sure about.
He disappeared for a moment and when he returned he held a cardboard box with the SHIELD insignia on it.
He placed it on the table in front of them.
"SHIELD kept my things. I think Peg had something to do with it but someone dropped this off for me the other day." He opened the lid and sucked in a deep breath. "I haven't – I haven't looked at any of it yet."
Rory sat forward, placing a hand on his arm, a silent but steady support if he needed it. He reached into the box and pulled out a beat up old tin. Inside were photographs and memories that he'd assumed were long gone. His breath caught in his throat.
"This is the stuff I carried around with me wherever we went… trinkets and reminders you know?" He said rhetorically. He plucked a photograph out of the tin and held it gingerly, as if it would disintegrate in his fingers.
"These are my parents… Sarah and Abraham Rogers…" He pointed to the only photo he had of his parents together. His voice was soft and Rory's fingers tightened on his arm. She shuffled closer to him and peered over his bicep.
"You look like your Dad." She murmured, her fingers tracing over the photograph. "Same nose and mouth… your mothers eyes though." She glanced at him, smiling slightly. She glanced into the tin and laughed, plucking a photograph from the pile. "Oh, you were an adorable baby!" she grinned, pointing to little Steve in his mothers arms. "All blonde haired and blue eyes." She cooed. He blushed, shaking his head.
Rory reached around his arm again and picked up one of him in a white outfit that he knew was from his baptism. "You were so small." She breathed.
"I was 8 in that picture." Even though he looked no older than 6. "I was sick a lot of the time. It was a miracle I survived the first 6 months of my life."
"Shit." She murmured.
"That's me with my dog Dodger when I was 12…" Steve traced his finger over the dog-eared picture of a skinny boy with missing teeth and a spotted mutt with a ball in its mouth.
"You actually look sick there."
"I was. I told you I had everything under the sun. If my mother hadn't had been a nurse I probably would have died." He said softly, placing the photo back in the box. The photographs brought up pangs of nostalgia and he distracted himself by looking at Rory. Her hair draped over her opposite shoulder like a curtain and made her skin look like porcelain. "I was colour blind too." He added, taking in the redness of her hair and the amber of her eyes.
Colour fascinated him. He'd lived a life almost devoid of it but now it was everywhere.
"You're an artist though?" She questioned, cocking her head to one side.
"I only sketched. I would love to paint one day, now that I have the time to focus on it." He smiled. She returned the smile and looked back at the tin.
Her eyes were wide as she studied each and every photograph in front of her like they were made of gold. One hand stayed on his forearm while the other reached with delicate fingers for something else.
"How old were you here?" She pointed to a photograph taken outside of a block of apartments. A proud smile was on his face as he held up a bunch of keys.
"18. The day Buck and I moved out and got our own place. It was the first time since my parents had died that I'd felt independent." He smiled. Rory looked alarmed. "My dad drank himself to death when I was 10 and my mother caught TB a couple of years later. I lived with Bucky and his parents til we were 18 and could move out." He smiled, pointing to a picture of himself and Bucky.
"I had no idea."
"Not many people do know that about me, they just think my parents died naturally." He shook his head, his expression pained. Rory ran her hand down his arm and linked their fingers. He looked down at them, surprised but ok with the comfort.
He'd craved comfort like this for so long. Just to feel someone else. He honestly couldn't imagine having a better friend right now.
"What about this one?" She asked, pointing to a picture of him and Bucky pretending to stand at attention.
"I was 23 and trying to joining the army any way I could but, obviously, they wouldn't take me." He studied the slight and emaciated looking version of himself smiling up at them. "Told you I was sickly."
"I think you look fine." Rory shrugged, rolling her eyes. She leant forward and peered into the box. "Are these your dogtags?" She linked her free finger in a chain and lifted them, studying the slices of metal as they dangled them in front of her eyes.
"Yeah, I thought I was wearing those when the plane went down." Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise, rubbing the familiar place on his chest where they'd once sat.
"Maybe SHIELD placed whatever you had on you when they found you in the box?" Rory suggested, running her fingers over his details embedded on the tags. Steve sifted through the box and nodded.
"You're right, because I went down with this too." He pulled out his compass, the one he always took with him on missions, and ran his thumb over the battered and dinted surface. He clicked it open, half expecting Peggy's face to be smiling back at him.
A crippling wave a disappointment flooded over him when there was nothing there.
"It must have disintegrated in the ice." Rory's soft voice cut through his mind like a hot knife. He glanced over at her, his vision blurred and his throat tight. "I can get you another photo though." She squeezed his hand tightly and he shook his head, snapping the compass closed.
"No. No it's ok. It wouldn't be right to have another mans' dame in my personal effects anyway." He sniffed and cleared his throat. "I'll put my own girl in there one day."
"Yeah you will." Rory grinned and reached for her wine. "But you do it when you're ready."
"Well Bucky's not here to shove girls at me, so I guess I'll have to." He chuckled. Rory laughed and shook her head.
"I think I would have liked Bucky." She mused, thinking of the stories her Pa and Grandma had told her about the man.
"He certainly would have liked you." Steve nodded. "He had a thing for pretty red heads with bright eyes." He studied her face, trying to imagine what Bucky would say about her. His cheeks heated up as Bucky's voice floated through his mind.
I'd love to see what she could do with those lips. Always treasure a girl with plush lips, Steve. They're magic when used right.
Steve cleared his throat and shook his head.
Rory let go of Steve's hand and leant back against the arm of the couch. She stretched her legs in front of her, making herself comfortable. "Tell me about him."
"Who, Bucky?" Steve clenched and unclenched the hand she had been holding. It was unusually warm and tingling as the blood rushed back to his digits. "Bucky was great." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Always up for some kind of adventure. There was one time we skipped school and went to Coney Island. He made me ride the roller coaster about a hundred times." He chuckled and winced, the memories flooding his mind. "I, of course, threw up almost every time but he kept dragging me on."
"That's horrible!" Rory exclaimed.
"His reasoning was that you never give up even if it kills you." Steve shrugged. "The last time we rode it there were two pretty dames sitting in front of us that Bucky wanted to get a date with and I threw up on their shoes." His face turned bright red.
"Oh my god!" Rory squealed, unable to hold in her laugh. "That's definitely horrible."
"Bucky was so mad but I told him I didn't feel great." Steve joined in with her laughter. "He protected me a lot though. He was as close as I ever got to having a brother."
"Sounds like a good guy."
"He was the best, I just wish I could have -." He cut himself off. "I wish things could have worked out differently."
His face fell as memories haunted him. He hadn't been able to save him. He'd died defending him. Crippling guilt washed over him so hard, his eyes pricked with tears.
"According to Pa you did everything you could. It was an accident." Rory nudged him with her foot. He glanced at her and nodded.
"I know. Doesn't make it any easier. There was a chance that I could have saved him and I failed." He croaked out, not willing to look at the girl beside him.
"Unfortunately you can't win them all but you tried and that's what matters." She repeated the words that she'd heard so often in her life. Her Pa had always said them to her and she never realised she lived by the words until now.
"How are you so positive?" Steve chuckled, sniffing hard. "You work for SHIELD, you see the same things I do… Yet you never seem to let it get to you."
"I do, I'm just good at picking my moments when I freak out or shut down. I grew up in this life. It can get you down but you just gotta take what you get." She shrugged, waving her hands. "My grandparents taught me how to handle it, I guess. Roll with the punches, always look on the bright side of life, that kind of thing." She paused. "The punches started for me when I was just a baby. I'd be dead now if I let them get to me."
Steve watched as she tried to explain the thoughts going through her head. She looked bashful, embarrassed and the apples of her cheeks dusted over with pink; but her eyes shined with a passion that made him believe things were ok. She was truly beautiful and he didn't know what to say next.
Rory knew he was watching her, she could feel his eyes on her skin making her feel exposed and naked in the best kind of way. She felt admired which was a ridiculous concept to her because she had always admired him. She cleared her throat.
"But I'm rambling so I'm going to stop." She ran a hand through her hair and cracked her neck.
"You're not rambling. I like listening to you talk." Steve assured her. "You say interesting things."
"I say dumb things." She disagreed, shaking her head.
"I don't think so." He assured her.
They continued to talk for the rest of the night, Steve telling her stories about growing up with Bucky on the streets of Brooklyn. He made her laugh and he decided it was his favourite thing about her. Her laugh was infectious and fun, light and almost childish. It made him feel like nothing could ever be wrong again, an absurd notion but he liked it none the less.
He wanted to ask her to stay as she got up to leave but knew he couldn't, guessed she wouldn't.
"Thanks for the company." He said as she opened the door. He followed her to the hall, leaning against the frame as she turned to say goodbye.
"Like I said, Steve. Anytime. It's nice to see you break down some of those walls." She smiled at him.
"Walls?" He furrowed his brow.
"Yeah, walls. Grandma says you've always had them. You're uptight about some things. Bitter about a lot. You should relax." She waved her hand, shrugging lightly. "Especially around women. She said you were pretty terrible talking to women."
"I'm doing pretty well being around you aren't I?"
"Yeah you are." She replied. She paused a moment, half turning away from him but stopping herself. "I like being around you, Steve. You're fun when you relax and turn off the 'superhero' thing."
His cheeks flushed in that way they always did and he looked at the floor. "Well I guess I'll just have to practice turning off the Superhero thing, huh?"
He heard the click of her door as it opened. "You know where to find me," She winked, shooting him a dazzling grin again.
He waved a hand and watched her door close. He closed his own but leant against the other side of it, his heart more full than he remembered it ever been. He had friends and he had a purpose. The new world didn't seem so bad anymore.
Author's Note: Just another filler. Figured I'd throw it up there for fun. I want to make clear that this story is slow burning and sometimes it'll feel like not a lot is happening. It's not for everyone and I get that. Thank you for reading though. Please like or comment if you did like it.
Also the bad guys from the last chapter are actual marvelverse characters. Go look them up before making stupid comments that I have to delete because they're embarrassing to you. 3
