Rewritten 2018

Make You Feel My Love ~Book II~

Disclaimer: I do not own The Winter Soldier movie! All rights go to Marvel. All I own is my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 10~
Science Bros

"You be careful, alright?" asked Matt, leaning down to kind of look at her though more to make his voice heard over the sound of traffic that came from the street behind the cab. His hand held the door open as Maria placed the bag she had borrowed from Matt next to her, nodding at Matt.

"You too," she said, looking up at him. "What with Fisk and all."

Last night, when she had had her first nightmare in a long time, she and Matt had stayed up several hours in order to talk. At first, Maria had told him everything that had happened to her lately; the Avengers initiative, the Battle of New York, Clint training her to be a SHIELD agent, her first mission going wrong, her second mission awakening memories and feelings about Artur…. It felt amazingly good to do so and Matt had commented and replied in just the right way to make her feel better about everything. Apart from being good at beating people up, Maria was sure that listening and making Maria feel better was a super power of his too.

Afterwards, she had asked Matt about himself. And a lot had been discussed after she had asked him that. Apparently, his life had taken a major turn after the battle of New York and after he had started his own law firm with Foggy. Of course, his life was already a little different since he did fight crime during most nights, but it had turned even stranger after that since something big had turned up; and this something big went by the name of Fisk.

She just hoped everything would turn out okay.

"I will," said Matt before he stepped away from the cab. "Call me!"

Maria nodded her head before Matt closed the door and the cab sped away. She couldn't help but feel a little sad about having to leave him again, though on the other hand, he now had her new phone number and he could call her if there was something he wanted to talk about.

Though, she was still going to miss to be able to talk to him face to face. He had been the one to take her in after she had recovered from Artur and what he had done to her. They had both met in the hospital, Matt having broken his arm while Maria had been there for months in order to heal her wound that Artur had given her when she left him. It was strange how her healing hadn't kicked in back then yet and she still wondered if it could have saved her from the damage that she now had.

The car ride to Midtown didn't feel as long as Maria thought it would feel. Probably because she had been thinking about possible things that could be the reason as to why she could heal fast, though she hadn't come up with anything logical. After all, she had proof of the fact that she was born in a hospital on Earth and she was in no way an alien or God, like Thor.

When the cab stopped in front of Stark Tower, Maria quickly paid the driver before exiting the cab, her bag in her hand. In the bag, which she had borrowed from Matt – a bag that looked like one that Matt had once used for whenever he went boxing – she had placed her red dress and the mask she had worn to the mission along with her suit, daggers and sword. It all fit in there which she was rather amazed at. At the moment she wore a far too big shirt that she had been allowed to borrow from Matt along with a pair of sweatpants who as well were several sizes too big for her. She was sure that she looked rather odd as she walked towards Stark Tower with those clothes on compared to the suit-clad men and women passing her by. But she could not care. She was comfy and they were not.

Telling the receptionist who she was, she was escorted to an office where a woman was sitting behind a desk. She smiled at Maria with a warm smile and gestured for her to enter, the escort leaving her there.

"Hey… I came to talk to Mr. Stark," said Maria, the woman standing up.

"Name?" she asked, her ginger hair glistening in the sunlight that shone down on her through the window.

"Maria. Maria Dalton," replied Maria.

"Oh," said the woman, immediately rounding her desk. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you. I'm Pepper. Nice to finally meet you."

She stretched out her hand and Maria smiled warmly at the woman, shaking her hand. During her time as a cleaner at Stark Towers, she remembered seeing Miss Potts here and there, but Maria had never made the connection that she was Tony's assistant, and girlfriend by now. "Ah, so you're the lovely Pepper."

"Tony and Bruce are waiting for you upstairs. Usually they work over in the other building but they're here today so you could find them," said Pepper, earning a confused look from Maria as she walked past her, leading her outside again.

"Wait, other building?"

"You've not heard of Tony's project?"

"Project?" she asked, walking up to walk beside Pepper who continued to walk past several offices, seeming to be leading Maria to an elevator.

"He's building an Avenger's Tower," explained Pepper. "Just in case there'd ever be another emergency that would need the team to come together again."

"He's building a tower just in case? Where does he get the money from?" asked Maria, the last part having been said more to herself than to Pepper.

"I know," replied Pepper. "He's building a new mansion as well since the last one was kind of blown to pieces."

They entered the elevator at this point, Pepper pressing the button that led to the level that was one level below the highest level; number 38.

"What?" asked Maria, raising an eyebrow.

"I think Tony should tell you that story. He knows more details than I do," said Pepper. "If you want, I can get you some clothes to wear for when you go back home?"

"Oh… No, this is fine. I don't wear this usually but um… It's comfy to travel in," said Maria, blushing slightly as she tugged at the hem of the shirt she wore.

"It actually suits you a little," said Pepper. "Tony asked me to ask you since he figured you hadn't brought any civilian clothes with you on the mission."

"Oh, yeah. I had, but they weren't really to my taste. They were for going undercover and they weren't very comfy," said Maria, the doors opening again.

"Here you are," said Pepper, gesturing towards the doors. "Sorry, I would follow you but I have a meeting in two minutes. It's just down the corridor, to the left."

Maria stepped out of the elevator, turning around and saying goodbye to Pepper before walking on, the elevator doors closing behind her. The corridor was long and dimly lit. Though the moment she turned to the left, she was met with the sight of a large room filled with science equipment she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around. It was awfully quiet and the sound of her boots - the boots she used while wearing her suit since she didn't have any other shoes with her - hitting the floor was the only sound that echoed against the large walls surrounding her. She dropped her bag and started to look at the equipment, running from one part of the room to the other to take a closer look at all the different machines.

"Ah!" exclaimed a voice suddenly, causing her to jump and spin around to look at the doorway where her bag was still lying.

Two men were standing there, looking at her with amused eyes. Of course, those men were no one else but Bruce and Tony. Bruce smiled at her, waving a little awkwardly at her while Tony pointed a finger at her.

"That is a very rare machine that should not be touched by hands that don't know what they're doing!" exclaimed Tony, starting to walk over to her.

Maria looked back at the machine she had been inspecting before they had entered the room, taking a step back.

"It's an x-ray machine. Ignore him," sighed Bruce, earning a hurt look from Tony.

"It doesn't just take pictures," argued Tony.

"No, they're in 3D. But it won't break if she touches it, will it?" asked Bruce, Maria chuckling softly.

"Good to see you again," said Tony, his eyes scanning her up and down ones before he furrowed her brow. "Still undercover?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "I borrowed some clothes from a friend. I didn't have any other."

"I promise I won't tell Steve," said Tony before walking towards a cot that was placed a little further away.

Bruce and Maria exchanged a look at Tony's comment before shaking their heads. Quickly, Maria embraced Bruce.

"It's good to see you again," greeted Maria. "You've been here with Tony ever since New York?"

"Yeah," said Bruce.

"You poor thing…"

Bruce chuckled. Tony turned and glared over at Maria. "It's been quite interesting. We've built some things and done some experiments over at the Avenger's Tower. There's still a few things that need to be fixed before we can start using it of course and that's what we've been up to."

"Sounds like fun," lied Maria kindly, walking over to Tony with Bruce next to her.

"How'd the mission go?" asked Bruce, Maria's smile immediately faltering which he of course noticed. "Sorry. Should I have kept quiet about it?"

"Oh, no," said Maria, shaking her head. "I'm fine - I mean, everything went fine."

Bruce nodded his head, watching her for a little while as Tony gestured towards the cot. It was obvious from the look on Bruce's face that he didn't believe her. Though, he didn't press it any further which Maria was quite grateful for.

She slowly jumped up on the cot and looked at the two scientists with expectant eyes.

"So," started Tony. "As you know, the tests we've run on your skin didn't really give us much. Only that the cells are remarkably withstanding. Which is good."

Absentmindedly, Maria rubbed the part where Tony had removed some skin to do tests on a few months back. It had healed completely, just like any other wound, but she remembered how strangely it had felt; how uncomfortable the procedure had been.

"Since that theory was wrong, we want to do some tests on your blood. This time, we'll also look at your DNA and see if we can find something unusual," said Bruce, walking up to her. "If that is okay with you?"

"Sure," shrugged Maria, stretching out her arm to them.

Tony grabbed a needle attached to a little contraption that would help hold the blood that they would take from her. She had never really given blood before and so, this was completely new to her. The only time she had seen someone take a blood sample was on a documentary on the TV. The contraption Tony and Bruce used didn't look like that one at all and she assumed that it was because Tony had some pretty advanced technology that he usually built himself.

However, when he neared Maria's arm with the needle, his hand started to shake and he had to stop. Bruce gently took the needle from Tony who nodded his head and walked over to a screen that was attached to the wall behind Maria. She watched him as Bruce inserted the needle into her arm, the stinging from the needle piercing her skin made her look back at Banner.

"Is he okay?" she whispered to Bruce who shook his head.

"He's had some trouble grasping the fact that what happened during the battle of New York actually happened. I suppose it's quite a lot to grasp for anyone," whispered Bruce back.

"You sure that is all?" asked Maria quietly, earning a shake of Bruce's head as he continued to concentrate on what he was doing.

"Not really," said Bruce.

Maria simply nodded her head, looking away from Bruce as he inserted the needle into one of her veins. She thought about what he had said and now that she thought about it, she hadn't really had that much time to think about the fact that those had been aliens. Instead, she had been completely caught up with her training. But, on the other hand, she had never really doubted the fact that there were other organisms out there. In fact, she was one of those people that believed more in aliens than in God. Especially after all that she had been through and all the pain she had felt during her life. It had made the idea of a God being up there, watching over them, something that she laughed at. Darwinism was her belief if anything.

"Done," said Bruce finally, making her look back at him, raising an eyebrow at how quickly it went.

"You can't see anything now? Before I leave?" asked Maria, Tony returning to the two of them and shaking his head.

"Jarvis is going to have to run a lot of tests and so are we. I'm afraid it's gonna take a while," said Tony.

He nudged her shoulder at the disappointed look on her face. "Don't be like that. Science takes a while but at least you'll find out the truth sooner or later."

"I wouldn't know," said Maria, shrugging before she jumped off the cot. "Never got that far in school."

"You know, we can teach you some things, if you want," offered Tony, earning a shake of Maria's head.

"If there's anything I need to know, I'll google it or just learn it the hard way," said Maria, earning a scoff from Bruce. "That's how my entire life has been so I think I can live like that for a little while longer."

Both scientists followed her back to the elevator in silence. It wasn't until Tony's phone rang that either of them looked at each other again.

"I have to take this," said Tony as he looked at his phone, recognizing the number. "You, be careful, alright?" he said, looking at Maria. As she smiled and nodded her head, Tony smirked slightly. "Be good to Steve."

He patted her arm slightly before answering the phone, walking away from them. Bruce sighed as he watched Maria press the button to call up the elevator to her level.

"Maybe you should talk to him," said Maria, glancing over at him. "I think that would do him good, to just talk about what is bothering him."

Bruce pursed his lips slightly before nodding. "Yeah… Maybe."

"What about you?" asked Maria, cocking her head to the side. "You okay?"

"Define okay," said Bruce, earning a smirk from Maria though they both felt the weight of the question as none of them could answer it.

"Is the other guy not giving you any problems?" asked Maria quietly.

"No. I just hope that when the world needs us, he won't lose control over himself," said Bruce, earning a confused look from Maria. "He knows you. All of you. And he knows what he's supposed to do. He's not completely a monster… But if he loses control over himself… God knows what could happen."

Washington

"On your left."

Steve stopped running as he saw the man he had passed several times that morning sitting against a tree, panting heavily. He couldn't help but smirk at the fact that that used to be himself before the actual serum – well, pre-serum Steve would probably have taken a few steps and then looked as exhausted as the man before him now. Just like the man, however, neither would have given up until it was just not possible to run anymore.

Steve respected that.

"Need a medic?" asked Steve, earning the attention from the man who scoffed at his words.

"I need a new set of lungs," said the man, shaking his head. "Dude, you just ran, like, thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

He couldn't keep himself from feeling proud over it and so, with his hands placed on his hips, Steve said; "Guess I got a late start."

"Oh really?" asked the man, amusement dripping from his words. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Should take another lap."

Steve smiled, watching the man look away from him for a while before looking back up at Steve. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"What unit are you with?" asked Steve, changing the subject as he noticed the logo on the man's shirt.

"58th, pararescue," said the man. "But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson."

At the introduction, Steve held out his hand to help him up; "Steve Rogers."

"I kind of put that together," replied Sam, smirking slightly. "Must've freaked you out coming home after the whole de-frosting thing."

Although Steve couldn't help but feel slightly down at the words Sam had just said, he still nodded his head, keeping the smile on his face; "It takes some getting used to," he said before taking a few steps back. "Nice meeting you, Sam."

He hadn't managed to walk even a few steps until Sam continued to talk; "It's your bed, right?"

His words caused Steve to stop in his tracks, turning back around with a questioning look on his face; "What's that?"

"Your bed is too soft," explained Sam. "When I was over there I slept on the ground and used rocks for pillows… like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed and it's like…"

"Lying on a marshmallow," said Steve, nodding his head.

He had felt it. Especially during the time before the Avengers had gotten together, before he had met Maria. In fact, that very night, he had felt like that more than ever. For three nights in a row he had slept in the same bed as Maria and doing so made him feel okay. Of course he still went through some night terrors, though waking up to Maria's face after something like that always seemed to calm him down. But now that she wasn't there and he wasn't on a mission like he had been the night before, he just couldn't sleep. Hence why he was out running so early in the morning. Of course it was something that he enjoyed doing as well since it otherwise would get too hot later in the day, not to mention that the sunrise was quite beautiful, though when Maria was there, he'd always have a reason to go out later in the morning.

"Feel like I'm gonna sink right through to the floor."

Sam nodded his head. He seemed to know what he was talking about; like a fellow military man, and Steve took a chance, "How long?"

"Two tours," replied Sam, making Steve nod his head. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well," said Steve, shrugging. "Things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better – we used to boil everything. No polio's good… Internet; so helpful. Been reading that a lot, trying to catch up."

He avoided the topic of women for lack of respect, but, yes, Maria was definitely something that made the 21st century ten times easier to handle.

"Marvin Gaye, 1972. Trouble Man soundtrack," said Sam, making Steve raise his eyebrows as he took out a small notebook from his pocket. "Everything you missed jammed up in one album."

The notebook had been Maria's idea. At first, it had actually belonged to her and as she was away, she'd write down small things that she had to show him whenever she had the time. Though, as time went by and Steve himself found out things that he needed to look into, she gave the notebook to him in order for him to write some things down as well.

"I'll put it on the list," said Steve with a smile as he indeed wrote it down.

Sam watched, furrowing his brow at something he saw though he kept quiet about it.

Steve barely had time to finish writing it down on his list before someone sent him a text. At first, his heart was filled with hope that it would be from Maria. However, it was simply a text from Natasha, telling him that she was going to pick him up for the upcoming mission. He was still quite bewildered at the fact that they just knew where he was all the time, though he didn't bother thinking about it since this was SHIELD after all.

"Alright Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run," said Steve, once again shaking hands with him. "If that's what you wanna call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?" asked Sam, an amused look on his face as Steve smiled at him.

"Oh, that's how it is," repeated Steve with a chuckle before letting go of Sam's hand.

"Anytime you wanna stop by the VA to make me look awesome in front of the girl in the front desk, just let me know," said Sam as Steve backed up towards the sidewalk where a black car came to a stop.

As the front window was opened, Natasha was seen sitting behind the steering wheel, smirking over at Steve and Sam.

"Hey fellows," she said. "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

"Hilarious," said Steve as he walked over to the car, opening the door.

"How you doing?" asked Sam to Natasha as Steve entered the car, making him resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Sam looked rather impressed by the way Romanoff looked and the way he said it implied just that as well. If he reacted like this to Natasha, thought Steve to himself, than he'd better be prepared for when he meets Maria.

"Can't run everywhere," said Steve, smirking over at Sam.

"No you can't," said Sam with an approving look on his face.