This chapter will be a bit different than the others yet. It is written in Tony's POV since I thought he should also have a say in this. He is such a complex character in the movies (and RDJ is doing an awesome job in portraying Tony), but I can't help but have the feeling not many people notice this. Anyway, let me know what you think and enjoy…
Chapter 9- Close and still far away-Tony's POV
It's been a few weeks since Bruce returned. He and Emi or better Hulk and Wolvie have sparing seasons a couple of times per week in the simulation room and they seemed to get along perfectly. They smash things there probably. Emi says that he's like a kid and only wants someone to like him. I always thought he couldn't be that dangerous, just misunderstood. What I mean is, they see this guy and the first thing they do is try to kill him. Tell me who wouldn't be aggressive then. Hulk adores his new buddy and sometimes they would run around the compound here too. We, as in Rhodey, Vision and I, join them sometimes. Emily calls it teambuilding activities. Oh, I forgot to mention, since Bruce and Hulk get along so well, Bruce agreed to rejoin the Avengers and is currently living here with us. We are also back to being mad scientists who already managed to blow up a few things.
Tonight is team night. Emi and Bruce are still at GNC, I didn't pay attention as to why. Bruce is doing some research there, I think.
Rhodey and Vision are preparing food in the kitchen, where I'm not allowed, so I pick movies for tonight. I wander down the hallway to the room we named Gallery. Since the Hello Kitty incident we started to collect pictures and videos of the team and hang them here. There's one of Emily and Hulk playing Frisbee with Cap's shield. I wonder where he and the rest are. One of the pictures shows the old team, the first Avengers team at a party some time after defeating the Chitauri. It was taken by Fury, for some reason.
Meanwhile Emi and Bruce returned from GNC, so we started our team night. In between movies there was a lot of talking. Bruce wanted to know more about our civil war, so we told him. Then I said: "Sometimes I wonder whether we did the right thing." "It's the United Nations. You can't just ignore them." Rhodey said. "So this whole fight, what tore the team apart was because of some accords?" Bruce asked. We looked at each other. "Cap didn't want to accept them, accept the limits they bring. One part of the team stood behind him, the rest were for the accords. Then Bucky came to the picture and it all came crashing down. "Bucky this, Bucky that. Bucky is my friend." True, it was Zemo's plan to tear us apart. But Cap said I did it when I signed." I said looking around. Then Emily spoke up: "You didn't. None of you in this room is responsible for tearing the Avengers apart. You made the right choice and this is not the ambassador of the UN speaking. You were able to accept boundaries, responsibility for your actions and shown respect to the countries. The most important thing is, that you learned from your mistakes and are trying to do things right and you look after the world we live in. Guys, this is a quality Cap for some reason doesn't have. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's bad or something. He just can't seem to learn from mistakes, he's only trying to do things right no matter the price. That means he won't accept limits. You know as they say that everything is allowed in war. I'm afraid he subconsciously doesn't want the wars to end. He is and always will be a soldier, fighting. This whole thing wasn't your fault boys. You made the right choice trust me. And don't worry, one day you all will be back together. The investigation is running and I don't want to give you false hope, but we may be able to get rid of charges against Natasha soon." We gave Emily a hug for this. All of us needed to hear something like that.
"Maybe we'll be back together someday, hopefully Steve will be over his Buckymania by then." I said. That triggered Bruce's question: "What is so bad about this Bucky? Sure the Winter Soldier, but any other reason you despise him?" "He killed my parents. I saw the footage, they still lived after the accident and he returned to the car and killed them. Steve knew, but he never told me and even defended him, saying he was his friend. But so was I." "I'm sorry about that, Tony."
We decided it was time for another movie. The rest of the night went by fast. We also talked about redecorating the living quarters. Everyone had their own room here, so we only needed to agree on the main room.
We eventually did. Soon after, Emily went to bed, we-the guys watched some more TV.
"Are you two like a couple?" Bruce pointed out.
"No we're not." I replied disappointed. Bruce picked it up.
"But you're acting like one."
I looked him in the eyes. "We were once, but that was long ago. It didn't end well." Rhodey joined the conversation.
"Didn't end well? You cheated on her, how did you think it would have worked out?"
"I was drunk, I had no idea what I was doing. It took me six months to apologize."
"At least you did. Dude, don't tell me you're in love with her. Wait, are you?"
Vision also added his thoughts: "From their interaction it is very hard not to see the emotional bond they share."
"Vision's right, Tony. Besides, Pepper has moved on, you should too." said Bruce putting his drink down.
"I know. This time I lost her for good."
"You still haven't answered my question. Are you in love with Emily?"
I looked at Rhodey knowing he wouldn't shut up if he didn't get the answer, so I simply answered: "Always."
Silence filled the room, so I decided to change the topic to Bruce's hideout. Another hour of talking followed.
None of us lasted much longer, so everyone moved to their own room. But I just couldn't sleep. I got out of bed and made my way down the hall. Stopping in front of Emi's room, I don't even know why, I opened the door. She looked so fragile, so small, okay she is smaller than me, but in this big bed she looked even tinier, sleeping on her side like she always did on the edge of the bed. I leaned against the doorframe and a smile formed on my face. My mother loved this girl. After their first meeting she told me: "You better not lose this one, dear, she's a keeper, good for you, nice and smart. Don't mess this up."
But guess what, I did. I rubbed the back of my head, god was I an idiot. She was always my friend, my partner in crime. I laugh as I think back to all those stupid things we did together with Rhodey. My other "friends" disliked her, as did Rhodey and I in the beginning, but there was something fascinating about her, too. We thought she was a boring nerd, we never saw her anywhere else but the school and well the truth is, we never even tried to get to know her. I remember the first time I went to her place for the project we were working on. She gave me her address and to be honest I expected to go to a dorm or tiny flat or something like that. Let's say I was shocked to arrive and see a black wrought iron fence with a hedgerow preventing any view on the grounds behind it. I double checked the address before I decided to ring the bell. Honestly back then I wasn't looking forward to spend my Friday evening with a boring nerd but I was to go on a party that night, so I thought I'll just endure the few hours. She led me into the basement where we set up the lab and spent a couple of hours there. We talked a bit about what to do and started to work on the plans, but that was all we talked about. I'm sure she could tell I didn't want to be there at all. When I decided it was time for partying so she just led me to the door without saying more than that we'll set up a meeting to finish it later. Let's just say as soon as we opened the door we had to close them. Because of a heavy snowstorm the few hours I was supposed to spend here turned into the whole night and part of the morning. So she led me to the living room I didn't see before as the stairs to the basement were in the hallway. She offered a drink, I accepted and after approximately 30 minutes of awkward silence I started asking stupid questions. To my surprise she actually answered them and after an hour or so she disappeared to the bathroom which gave me time to explore the living room. I sat down and started playing on the black grand piano. When I finished I heard I turned around to see not the nerd but probably the most beautiful girl in the world. No glasses, no pined up hair; just a brown-haired girl smiling at me. We eventually finished our robot and talked a lot. I found out who she was and why she was like that. I told her some of my secrets; so much about our first real encounter. Through the years, I gained her trust only to lose it all. I even managed to talk her into a relationship and break her heart afterwards. This is starting to remind me of a confession. Why not?
It happened at the end of the school year. I still see the look in her eyes when she came and saw what I did. I wish she'd at least slapped me on my face, but she just stood there, tears, hurt and disappointment in her eyes. The worst thing thought was, that I didn't even try to apologize. I just looked at her like what I did was the most natural thing in the world. "What? Why are you looking at me like this? What are you doing here anyway; I thought you were in NY?" "I was, but as you surely forgot we were supposed to meet 2 hours ago so I came looking for you. I see I shouldn't have come." "No, you probably shouldn't have." There was no screaming, shouting, no hysterical cry, but it still was a fight. We stood there for a moment and then she said: "So I guess this is goodbye then. If you ever need me, just call and remember I'll always have your back no matter what. Goodbye Tony." With that she turned and walked out of the room as well as my life. It took me a while to realize what happened, what I did and it took me even more time to get together enough courage to apologize. The plan was to call and invite her over for Christmas like every year; instead I called her the night I lost my parents. She never even hesitated to come; she forgave me after my apology saying that I hurt her but she didn't want to lose a friend. We just sat there the whole night crying. The truth is I don't know what I'd do without her. She was always there for me, no matter what. I knew that we would do anything for each other.
One day I asked her for a big favor. I was a playboy, getting drunk at parties and the last thing I wanted was to wake up married to one of those girls I met there. Emily was my best friend, so I asked her to become my wife, only on paper. "You know, like signing a contract, nothing more if you don't want it, please. I promise it will be kept secret." I remember it perfectly. It took me 2 months to convince her. She had her lawyers draw up a contract saying that in case of divorce the properties remain in hands of their rightful owners, that means just like it was before we got married. There was also a paragraph saying that there would be no problem with annulment of the marriage in case one of us was in a serious relationship and wanted to get married; just a signature. April 3rd, that was the day we got married. In a cathedral, that was where civil weddings were being held at the time, because of a reconstruction of the town hall.
Watching her sleep, it's hard to believe that this petite girl is probably the most powerful creature on this planet. Why was I so stupid? Why did we say goodbye? Right, I was an idiot, that's why. Leaning against the doorframe the only thing I want to do is touch her soft skin, hold her in my arms. She's my best friend. We're so close and yet so far away. I just love this girl and that is something I have no problem to admit, now. But, will she give me a second chance? After what I did to her I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. My trance was interrupted by Emily's voice. "Are you going to stand there for long? It's getting a bit windy here and you're creepy." She looked up, hair sticking up in all directions, her beautiful eyes sleepy. That's my girl. "Sorry, I just…" "Couldn't sleep so you decided to creepily watch me sleep?" "Yes, that is basically it." She laughed. "Ok, so you can go back to your own bed or stay here, but please, close the door." I stepped into the room and closed the door. "Can I?" I pointed to the bed. "Ah, come here. But I'll use you as a pillow and personal heater since you managed to make the room cold." I jumped on the bed and got under covers. "I thought the cold never bothered you?" And I got hit in my face with a pillow. "You are still like a kid sometimes, do you know that?" She said as she rested her head on my chest. "But isn't that why you like me so much?" "Sure" was her answer.
A few minutes later I decided to try my luck. "Elianne, are you still awake?" "Hmm, yeah, why?" came a sleepy reply. "I was wondering if maybe… if maybe I could ask you to give me one more chance." Please say yes, please say yes, please! "Is that why you were in my room? You know what; I must be crazy, but yes. Everyone deserves a second chance." I kissed her hair, muttered a "Thank you" and pulled her close. "I promise I won't hurt you ever again." We drifted off to sleep in each others arms.
