Chapter 10
Here's the next chapter everyone! Thank you for the reviews, and I'll see what I can do about your requests. I get several private messages too from people about requests for the story… I'll try my best to make you all happy :)
I warily open my eyes the next morning. I look out my window. It was cloudy today. I groan and roll out of bed; taking my clothes to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, I walk out of the elevator and up to Steve. He smiles; I give a very small smile and we walk out the door. He stares ahead; then starts to glance at me.
"Something wrong?" He asked. I shake my head.
"I'm just tired." I say. He nods.
"Were you out saving someone again?" He smirks. I shake my head.
"No, actually. I just feel more tired than normal." I say; then yawn. He hesitates, and then nods. We walk through the park entrance and pick up a jog. I stare at the ground for a while. I don't see him looking at me.
"You know you can tell my anything right?" He says. I look up and force a smile.
"Yeah, I know." I say. He gives me a concerned look before giving a nod.
"Ok, then." He says; looking ahead. We jog in silence for a few minutes; jogging around some trees. "I was thinking we could go an extra lap starting next week." He says. I smirk.
"Did you forget already?" I say. He raised an eyebrow. "Remember? I'll be gone by next week." I say. He comes to a dead stop; I slow down; turning.
"What?" He asked. I raise an eyebrow.
"…Didn't Coulson tell you?" I ask. He shook his head.
"He didn't say anything last night." I let out a breath. I hesitate before saying anything.
"I'm going to the Foster Home starting next week. He said he was gonna tell you." I say. From there I couldn't tell his expression; in fact I don't even know if he was taking that in yet. I raise an eyebrow. "Uh, you ok?" I wave my hand in front of his face. He blinks and nods.
"Yeah, yeah… I just…." He trails off. I glance around.
"Wanna keep going?" I ask. He nods. We pick back up our jog. They rest of the way was silent.
~0~
I was in my room now. After we got back Steve kinda told everyone and Natasha and Clint had at Coulson for not telling them first. I could literally hear them through the vents. I didn't think they would take it that hard, I mean…. They must have tons of messed up people coming here… right?
I continue to sketch out my horse drawing while I listen to bits and pieces of the conversation. I wonder who I will meet there. I hope I make some friends. I thought. I look at my phone. It was only 10am. I sigh; looking out my window.
…
"Why didn't you tell us before you told her?!" Pepper yells. Coulson was quiet through all the yelling's her got from everyone.
"Did we really have to wait til she told one of us you were getting rid of her?" Clint says.
"Fury knew you would react this way so he wanted to keep it quiet." Coulson explains. They all exchange glances.
"So you weren't going to tell us, again?!" Natasha says. Coulson doesn't respond.
"Is she in her room?" Coulson asks.
"Yeah." Steve says. He nods.
"I'll come pick her up Monday." He says; standing up. They don't respond as he heads for the elevator.
…
I walk out of the elevator and into the gym. I walk over to the punching bags; putting my water on the bench I walk over to the bag in the corner. I start throwing a few punches.
"Nice technique." My fist hits the bag and I stop. I turn; looking at Steve; who I didn't hear come in.
"Thanks… my brother showed me." I say; I clench my jaw; looking back at the bag, thinking about him.
"So he taught you to fight?"
"Yeah, when he was home anyway." I say. He gives me a questioning look.
"He was in the Army." I tell him. He nods; I see his expression brighten a bit with the mention of Army.
"What's his name?" I blink back tears, taking in a shaky breath.
"James." I say. Steve nodded, and then sees the expression on my face. I could see it in his eyes; he could tell by my face that he was gone.
"Is there any chance he's-"
"No." I say. He swallows.
"Sorry."
"Its fine, its just-… he's been d-"I take in a shaky breath. "He's been dead for a few years now. He was killed in action overseas." I say. I look away for a minute; blinking away tears. "He had promised me he would take me to where he was based for my birthday a few years ago. I wanted to see it so bad." I couldn't look at him as I talked. I could barely hold it together. "He…" I cough out a sob. "He would have kept his promise." I start coughing out sobs and he walks over. I honestly didn't freakin care anymore. I wrap my arms around his waist and start bawling tears into his shoulder. He just hugs me back.
I had lost everything. My mom, my dad, my brother…. I had no one. No one left. And I was about to leave the only people left that I cared about. I honestly don't know how long I've been standing here. He eventually said something to me that involved heading for the elevator. We made it there and just kinda went down to the lobby and out the door. For a while we just walked. He had an arm around my shoulder the whole time and we just kinda talked about the better parts of it. The good memories I had of him.
At some point he asked me if I was hungry… I told him I wanted ice cream. Not that I was in the mood but surprisingly it made me feel better. We sat in that little ice cream shop for hours. He let me talk about whatever I was comfortable with.
I told him about when my brother first enlisted and how when he got accepted that my parents found it in the mail and were furious when he got home from school. (He was a senior at the time and I was in 6th grade) I also told him about how he would "train" me. He taught me how to throw a punch when I was 11. As I got older and he grew in the ranks he taught me a lot more. Battle tactics, modern warfare stuff, types of ammunitions used… Pretty much everything he leaned that wasn't classified… ok-, well… maybe he slipped a little on the classification.
I had always told my brother that I wanted to be just like him someday. He never doubted that I would be.
Around 5pm we had started heading back to the Tower. I was a quiet dinner. Natasha and Clint had a mission they left for that afternoon. Bruce and Tony had taken their food to the lab to eat. It was just Steve, Pepper, and I.
After I had eaten I called in early. I could tell by Pepper's face that she was worried. Thankfully after I went into the elevator I heard Steve start to explain.
Once I fell onto my bed comforter I didn't realize how tired I was. I wanted to cry more; just put all the pain I suffered in the last year into tears. But I couldn't. There weren't any tears left. I did eventually drift off; not bothering to get myself dressed or under the covers. I curled up; making myself as small as possible and closed my eyes.
~0~
The next week….
I carried my duffle bag out to the curb. Today was the day. I was leaving the Tower to get on with my life… or whatever life I had left. Sam was going with me to get dropped off. Coulson was waiting by the car.
I turn to everyone. Pepper was red in the face and her eyes rimmed with some barely visible tears. I smirk. She pulls me into a tight hug.
"Thank you for everything Kate." I smile; pulling out of the hug.
"I should be thanking you Pepper. After all, I wouldn't be here if you said something." I say. She nods, with a smile. Tony shakes my hand.
"Good luck kid." I smirk; giving a nod. He walks back over to Pepper. Tough love. I say in my head with a smirk. Bruce shakes my hand.
"Good luck Kate. It was a pleasure getting to know you." Bruce says. I smile.
"Same goes to you." I say. He gives a nod. I walk over to Clint and Natasha. Clint grins and pulls me into a hug.
"Promise to get into trouble for me there ok?" I give him a smile.
"You bet!" I fist bump him. I turn; hugging Natasha.
"Don't forget to make some friends too." She says to me. I smile.
"Don't worry I won't." She smiles and I walk over to Steve who was standing on her left. I smile and he pulls me into a hug.
"You be careful." He says in a playfully tone. I roll my eyes.
"I'm not that reckless." I say with a smirk.
"Good luck." I give a nod, then turn; walking toward the car. Coulson gives me a nod.
I get in and Sam gets in the other side. Closing my door; I put my window down; waving the them as we drive away.
~0~
We pull up in front of the foster home. I gulp. Sam looks at me and smiles.
"Don't worry. I'll come see you as often as I can." She says, putting an arm on my shoulder. I nod and get out. It looked like a prison. There was a fence and a tall building.
"It was the most highly rated home, Kate. So don't worry." Coulson says, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. I smirk. We walk toward the building. A woman with red hair came up to us.
"Welcome! I'm Ms. Williams. You must be Phil." She shakes his hand. She turns to me and smiled. "And you must be Kate!" She says cheerfully. I give a very small smile. This lady scares me. She's creepy… like a serial killer! I shake my head and furrow my eyebrows at my own thoughts. I look at Coulson, he gives a nod. I get my things and close the trunk. He gives me one last nod before getting in the car. I watch him drive away. Sam walked me in before leaving.
...
I walk into a room. Ms. Williams follows. I see three other girls there. A girl with dirty blonde hair looked up and smiled. There was a girl with black hair; with a red streak and a girl with auburn hair.
I look around the room. There were four beds counting one for me. The girl with dirty blonde hair had a girly set up. She had posters and make up stuff on a little night stand next to the bed. Pink was the main color.
The girl with black hair had a gothic looking set up. Dark, mysterious posters were on the walls and black sheets on the bed.
The girl with auburn hair had a nice little set up. There were skateboarding posters on the wall and one picture on a nightstand of two people; portably a couple. I look around the room. It wasn't half bad. There was a window by each bed and the spare bed had a window seat.
I hope that's my bed. I thought. Ms. Williams walks in front of me.
"Come here girls. We have a new member!" She says cheerfully. I roll my eyes. The auburn girl gets up first and comes over, the other two follow.
"This is Kate everyone." She introduces me.I give a small smile and a wave. They wave back to me.
"Well, go on! Introduce yourselves!" MS Williams laughed.
"My name is Scarlett." The auburn girl says. I smile, she holds out her hand and I shake it. The dirty blonde girl walks up.
"Hi, my name is Ashley." She says with a smile; I shake her hand. The girl with black hair walks up.
"Sup, I'm Jade." She says, I fist bump her. She smirks and sits on her bed. Ms. Williams looks at all of us and nods.
"Aright..." She turns to me. "The girls will tell you what you need to know, and you have a drawl to put your clothes in." She smiles; then leaves the room. I turn back to the girls. Scarlett smiles and points to the spare bed.
"Well, here's your bed." She walks over and I follow. "We get new stuff in every other week so over time you can decorate you space how you like." She says. I nod. I swallow.
"How's it food wise?" I ask. She shrugs.
"It's alright,... For a foster home anyway." Jade says, mumbling the last part. I smirk.
"So, Kate. What are some of your hobbies?" Ashley asked. I shrug.
"I can fight...uh; I can do a little bit of archery. I shoot, sketch, I skateboard..." I count them on my fingers. Scarlett raises an eyebrow.
"You skateboard?" She asked. I nod.
"I haven't in a while, but I do too." She smiles at me.
"Sweet, so do I!" She fist bumps me and I chuckle.
"So what's your story." Jade asked. I sat on my bed. I hesitate.
"I was kidnapped and held hostage for 8 months. My parents were killed shortly after I was found." I say. They look at me.
"Wow, haven't heard that one before." Ashley says. I shrug.
"Yeah, and it gets better. The government found me and I was living in a billionaire's tower for like two months." I say. Their mouths drop.
"Are you fudging serious?" Scarlett said. I nod.
"And don't even mention little orphan Annie. I am not like that at ALL." I make clear. We all laughed.
"That's crazy dude!" Jade says. I nod in agreement.
"That must have been nice." Ashley says. I hesitate before shrugging.
"It wasn't ordinary, I'll give it that." We sit in silence for a minute. Scarlett claps her hands together.
"Well, why don't you unpack?" I nod and put my duffle bag on the bed. The girls went back to doing what they were doing.
I start looking through my bag. I take out all my outfits as put them on the bed; folded nicely. I take out a few other things, including my skate board at the bottom of the bag, and my sketch book. Something catches my eye. I furrow my eyebrows and look in my bag. There was some kind of book. I pick it up and look at it. It had a black leather cover; no wording. I open it and a note falls out. I pick it up and read it.
Dear Kate,
You have no idea how thankful I am for everything you have done for us. I know you will do get things some day and you will go far. Best wishes.
Pepper
I smile and put the note on the bed. I open to the next page and a small gasp escapes my mouth.
It was a photo album. I look at all the pictures. It surprised me how she managed to get some of these. There was two pages of pics of me and Natasha, some of us talking, and some of me sparring with Natasha, I look at all the pictures. I was on the ground in most of them. I smile and go to the next page.
The next two pages had pictures of me and Clint. There was a few of him teaching me bow tips, and a few of us sparring. The second page was made up of me and Clint playing pranks. I grin and look at them. There was one of Steve covered in feathers and me and Clint falling off the couch laughing. And another of the lab after we covered it in toilet paper, the time when Tony almost killed us.
I chuckled at the memories. I turn the page and see the ones of me and Steve. There were some of us jogging. I furrowed my eyebrows at those. The only other person that jogged with us once was...Sam! I laugh to myself. That Traitor. I thought. There were a few of us using the punching bags and also some of us just sitting on the couch, talking. Then there was two of us smiling at the camera, then another, when I threw a pie at his face, then another when he threw a pie at my face. Next thing we knew the kitchen was covered in pie. Sam was trying to protect her phone during the whole thing. I guess she took more than that one picture.
That was fun to explain to Pepper when she got home. He face was priceless. I smile at the memories.
The next two pages contained pics of me in the lab with Tony and Bruce. There was one where I was sitting on the counter and Tony was testing a suit and it malfunctioned, he was flying around the lab; trying to get it under control. I was laughing in the picture.
There was also one where I had been messing with Bruce's stuff and set off a little explosion. Bruce was in the back ground looking shocked and I was smiling; ash and substance covered my face and clothes. I chuckled at the memories.
The last few pictures included lots of pics of everyone. They're ones of me and Pepper, some of me and Sam and me with the others.
I turn the page to the last picture and see a picture of all of us together. I remember when we took that picture. I smile and close it up. Putting it in the drawl of my nightstand, I put all of my clothes into my drawl and walk over to the window seat. I sit down.
"Nice view right?" Scarlett says. I nod; my mouth open. It was so cool. I look at all the buildings. I smile comes on my face when I see Stark Tower. I see my phone beep and turn it over.
Pepper: We miss you already. :(
I chuckle, typing a reply.
Miss you guys too.
I turn off my phone. I look back out my window. I watch as the clouds start to cover the sun. The light slowly climbed the side of the tower til the light was gone. I adjust myself on the cushion; my gaze lost on the place I use to call home.
There's the chapter everyone. A lot happened and I know it was a bit long. Please review and let me know if you liked it.