Author's Note: I have no excuse as to why this too me so long to post lol I literally just forgot somehow. When I reached the 3 day mark I thought to myself "Time to post chapter ten" then just...didn't o.O lol
Review Reviews:
Morgan: Thanks :) More fluff in this chapter too!
maggie: Thanks! That was my favorite scene too :)
jeffhardyfan93: Haha that good! In a story like this you never know who's telling the truth and who's lying through their teeth.
imnotcraZyjustuniQue: Wow. Well I can confidently say that won't happen lol I've only ever ended one story halfway through but I gave more explanation that that at least haha More fluff on its way! LOL glad I can amuse :)
kimbee: Thanks :) I thought it made sense too and it was nice to deviate from what everyone automatically expected. NCIS killed me- as did Castle and NCIS: LA- I'm just a mess right now haha
Emrys90: Thanks! Always felt like Fury was a misunderstood character. In most Fanfiction I've read he's portrayed as this evil dictator who hates everyone and never smiles. However Movie Marvel Fury is sassy and, I think, a crazy dedicated man. Basically I wanted to find the happy medium that Marvel found between head of a government agency, and sass-master ;) I actually wrote that scene before seeing Iron Man 3 so after leaving the theater I gave myself a little pat on the back for predicting Tony's mental state is messed up hahaha :p I'm guessing sounding 20-22 is a good thing lol
discordchick: She's an interesting character, Shaw, and hopefully I'll find the right way to portray her.
GhostGlowLight: The family is pretty much entirely in the loop now (except for some of the kids) so that should make for some interesting times ;)
and this remains: I sent you a message in reply to your review, in case you missed it. But again, thank you for the constructive criticism and I hope you keep reading and review again :)
Sasha: Thank you for the kind words. Everyone has their opinions and views as well as their critiques, and though we might not all agree with them it's important to hear every now and then- if just to mature and grow from them. Readers are reflections of their favorite writers, so I'm just grateful I have such passionate and smart readers :) Thanks! I wanted to deviate from what everyone already assumed would happen but it wound up working perfectly. Fury and his decisions intrigue me lol I understood perfectly. And thank you :)
This chapter is pretty fluffy and un-mission related, if just cause I wanted to break up the intensity and show a little family time. We're picking up almost right where we left off in the last chapter after Ryland fell asleep in the cab.
Enjoy!
Anya's eyes fluttered open as she slowly woke up. First she registered a bright light directly in her eyes. Then she registered a kink in her neck that traveled almost the entire length of her spine, making just about any position uncomfortable. And lastly she noticed the sturdiness of the pillow she was using and the familiar aroma of it.
"Guess we didn't make it all the way home." she mumbled with a sleepy chuckle as she struggled upright on the couch, Ryland following suit and sitting up beside her. "Sorry I used you as a pillow."
Ryland shrugged nonchalantly as he cracked his neck. "No problem. I used your lap as a pillow for a bit last night so I'd say we're even."
They both tried to stretch out the soreness in their bones. The impact of their car hitting the water gave them both whiplash and the stress of it all gave Anya a headache. Her rumbling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since her late breakfast/lunch the day before. So she scrambled off the couch, reaching out to pull Ryland up as well. The communal level of the tower where Anya and Ryland had fallen asleep was empty so they had the kitchen to themselves. Ryland set out to make pancakes with Nutella on top and Anya sat on the island entertaining him while he worked.
Ryland was just polishing off his tenth pancake when wind kicked up outside causing the windows to rattle. All too used to the clatter and boom that followed the gust of wind, Anya and Ryland got half excited, half anxious. They impatiently waited for the elevator to ding, their entire family pouring out into the communal level, talking loudly. It was no surprise after the events last night that Thor and the family were called home. Though Irina and the twins still didn't know what happened, Tony called Thor late in the night with the news. Though he swore Ryland and Anya were fine, Thor insisted on coming home at once. Dahlia was more than happy to get back to earth, though the circumstances could've been better.
They didn't talk about or discuss what had happened or the ramifications. Even though the air was sort of tense, they carried on with their day like nothing had happened and Thor just planed on coming home early for no reason. Jane did hold them each a little longer than usual when she gave Ryland and Anya welcoming hugs. Dahlia kept a keen eye on both of them, watching carefully for anything and everything. As worried as she was, she trusted the two of them to let the family know if this was serious. So instead of trying to ask Anya about the missions, she asked her about Ryland.
Immediately Anya rolled her eyes, falling backwards onto her bed where she sat beside Dahlia later in the day. She chuckled even as she sighed, covering her face with a throw pillow hoping maybe if Dahlia couldn't see her she'd stop talking. "C'mon now you knew it was coming!" Dahlia said with a chuckle, pulling on the pillow until she could see Anya again. "I miss things when I go home so it's up to you to fill me in. Go, go! Tell me everything."
Anya grumbled something under her breath as she sat up. "Not much," she lied. Dahlia shot her a look so Anya sighed again. "I don't know what you want me to say, Lia."
"Tell me what's been going on!" Dahlia all but snapped, pushing Anya's shoulder. "So you and Rye are partners?" Anya nodded, biting her bottom lip. "How's that going?"
Anya rolled one shoulder so Dahlia gave her a minute to find the right words. "It's going well, I suppose."
"You don't sound very convincing."
"I mean we're figuring this whole mess out." Anya started slowly, absently biting her finger nail. "This case is really confusing but we're working it out and we're doing really well I think."
"...But?"
"But..." Anya paused a second before grabbing a pillow and scrunching it up in her lap, giving her hands something to do. "We keep having these weird moments."
"Define weird." Dahlia said, almost chuckling but Anya looked really confused so she refrained.
"You know how Ryland gets, he invades your space. He gets so close sometimes and usually it's not that big of a deal but since we started this mission together...it seems like every time I turn to look at him he's so close our noses almost touch. And what's even worse is that...every time we're that close...I just can't help but take a peek down at his lips. That sounds so ridiculous out loud! But I swear I have no control over it, Lia. I'll look over at him, fully intending on looking him in the eyes, than my eyes will just flit down to his lips for just a second before I reign myself in."
Dahlia was trying so hard no to squeal and get excited. Anya was obviously worried and a tad freaked out by her own reaction, but Dahlia was over the moon. So she had some trouble stiffing her smile as she said, "They do that all the time in books and movies. When the main characters like each other, they always stare at each others lips."
Anya let out a little giggle before covering her face in a pillow and falling face first in the bed. "You're not helping! Besides, Ryland doesn't do it, it's just me."
"Sure you're the one looking at his lips but that boy checks you out all the time." Dahlia replied, causing Anya to sit upright again. "He watches you like a hawk. I mean we all know Ryland's a starer and a watcher; but he's always got his eye on you. Even when he's doing something else like watching TV or working, he's always got one eye on you. Sometimes he's watching cause you're doing something funny, or sometimes cause you're doing something cute. Every now and then I notice him watching you with a sort of frustration even I can't define. He was watching you this morning too."
"How was he watching me today?" Anya asked, trying not to sound as intense as she felt.
Dahlia giggled a little before saying, "Oh he was checking you out." and making Anya throw her face down to the bed again. "Sure he was smiling when Dad picked you up or when Pepper mentioned you two slept on the couch. But when you were trying to find your cell phone in the couch cushions, his eyes were all over your ass."
Anya made a noise caught somewhere between a giggle and a groan as she flailed her arms all about frustratedly. When she sat up again she was overwhelmed by the realization of how much she missed Dahlia while she was in Asgard. So she started talking and talking and talking. She told Dahlia all about the car ride to Jersey and how Ryland kept cracking jokes to lighten the mood- most of which were sexual or self-deprecating in some way. And then about how they got locked in the trunk and how Ryland was ready to shield her from a hale of bullets if that were the case. At the time of the incident Anya was too busy freaking out to realize the implications of that, but saying it out loud to Dahlia it sank into the pit of her stomach.
Anya kept telling story after story all the while Dahlia eagerly sat on the bed beside her, hands propped up on her knees as she rested her chin on her knuckles. When Anya told her about getting thrown off the case Dahlia wasn't surprised at all that Ryland knew to give Anya space to clear her mind at the gym, but she got a butterfly feeling in her stomach as Anya told her about how they spared while working on the case. Dahlia wasn't much of a trainer or a fighter (more an eater and a watcher) but she always loved the way Ryland and Anya went at it at the gym the way Clint and Natasha did.
"I'm almost 90% sure he's jealous of Brant." Anya said when she was nearing the end of her story. She'd left out almost all the mission details- only talking about her interactions with Ryland and not how they got to that point in time. "When we were at the park before the incident at the pier, he brought up how creepy Brant can be. And so I said, yeah, he's a bit weird, but he's nice."
"You didn't say nice, did you?" Dahlia teased and Anya giggled.
Shaking her head, Anya said, "I played with Rye a little, talking about how hot Brant is. I've never seen him get so red before."
Dahlia laughed, trying not to sound as pleased as she was. "I'm not gonna lie though, Ace, Brant is really smokin'. When you and Rye ride off into the sunset together, can I have Brant?"
Anya laughed even as she smacked Dahlia's shoulder hard enough to almost knock her off the bed. "Last night he fell asleep on my lap." Anya said quietly after a few minutes of silence. Dahlia got serious, the giggling having stopped. "We were both so exhausted after everything that had happened...on the car ride home...he just laid down in my lap. He was so tired I can't really hold it against him. But...he laid there facing me, asleep in seconds, and let me play with his hair." Dahlia made a little squeaking noise as her face got all dreamy. Anya had to look away to keep from making a similar face.
"I guess we didn't make it all the way home either," Anya continued softly. "Cause this morning I woke up and we were together on the couch. He used me as a pillow last night and I used him as a pillow this morning."
Dahlia made that sound again, this time covering her mouth before the entire squeak came out. "Oh, Ace," she said softly. "why are you fighting this so hard? Look at you two! You're adorable and perfect and..."
"And we were raised together." Anya cut in harshly. "We grew up together like siblings. Its practically incest, Dahlia."
Dahlia rolled her eyes dramatically. "You're not related at all and just because you were raised together doesn't mean something special can't blossom out of..." Dahlia was cut short when Anya all but growled, hopping off the bed and walking away. Dahlia just rolled onto her side, watching Anya walk to the closet. "It happens all the time!" Dahlia said loudly, compensating for Anya walking away. "My one teacher at school met her husband when she was three years old. They've been best friends ever since, practically raised together, and no one saw a damn thing wrong with them falling in love. In fact their parents used to crack jokes all the time about them one day getting married. This is no different."
"This is completely different." Anya retorted. She started riffling though her closet in search of a dress because, with the Odinson's all returned from Asgard, the whole family decided a family dinner was in order. So Tony made reservations at a fancy restaurant in the city and told everyone to dress up. Though Anya felt like sleeping the day away, she went about putting together an outfit anyway.
Dahlia threw her legs over the side of the bed, scooting until she was upright looking down the length of Anya's closet where she could see Anya riffling through dresses. "Anya look at me." she said seriously, waiting until Anya dropped a dress and looked over. "You are going to drive yourself crazy fighting this. You can push, fight, yell and scream but what you and Ryland have is real. Deny it all you want but we both know it is real."
Anya sucked in a deep breath, looking like she might actually start crying. Her voice cracked when she asked, "What does that mean?"
Dahlia was quiet a second before she shrugged a little, mumbling. "It means you're not gonna be happy until you've found some sort of resolution."
Anya sighed, running her hands through her hair, messing it up even more than it already was. "But," she grumbled, moving out of the closet to fall to the floor by the door. Leaning her back against the wall, Anya covered her face as she said, "what if it doesn't work?"
"Ahh," Dahlia sang, scooting off the bed to join Anya on the floor. "So that's what's really bugging you? What if you give it a shot and it doesn't work?"
"How weird will it be living with an ex?" Anya replied, looking over at Dahlia with an expression so worried and confused Dahlia just couldn't resist throwing her arm around Anya's shoulders. "What if we trying...something, and it doesn't work. Then afterward I'm supposed to just work with him and live with him and be around him 24/7 without it being weird? That'll never work! It'll screw up everything."
"Or maybe it'll go so well you'll live happily ever after." Dahlia replied, trying to brighten the mood a little. "Either way you'll never know unless you give it a shot and let yourself free of all your rules and guidelines. And besides, good or bad, this family will always be a family. You'll always have your parents and Irina, but you'll also always have me and Kellen and Mom and Dad. You'll never get rid of Steve and Mickey and the twins and Lord knows Bruce and Danni will stick to you like glue. And though it might get weird, you'll never lose Tony or Pepper either. And I have this sneaking suspicion that you'll never lose Ryland either. Even if you two go up in flames like The Church of Company, you'll always be best friends."
Anya was quite a long minute, mulling everything over. When she finally spoke again, it was to say, "Well we can't fix all my problems today," as she stood up and reached for Dahlia. "So how about we get ready for dinner? And tomorrow we'll work on my problems again."
Dahlia smiled as she grabbed Anya's hands. "Deal," she said as Anya pulled her upright.
XXX
Dinner reservations were for seven so everyone was supposed to gather in the garage around six thirty to figure out transportation. With 17 people all headed to the same destination, multiple cars were in order. So they brought three large SUV's to the elevator and went about figuring out who was riding along with whom.
"C'mon man why do you gotta do that?" Kellen complained as he entered the garage on Charlotte and Florence's heels. Ryland was waiting by the elevator door in black slacks, a black Alexander McQueen button up and a black vest, coupled with red wingtip brogues. His hair was even combed, though there was one pesky little hair that fell in the middle of his forehead.
"Do what?" Ryland asked innocently, looking around for what he'd done wrong.
"Why do you gotta dress like that? You're making it extremely difficult for everyone else to look half-way decent." Kellen replied. Ryland chuckled, throwing his arm around Kellen's shoulders. Even though Kellen was five years younger than Ryland, they were equal in height.
"You're not looking too bad yourself, buddy." Ryland replied, gesturing to Kellen's outfit. Kellen wasn't the most fashion forward but he wore dark brown chinos, a blue button up and a gray-ish/tan blazer. His shaggy blond hair was a bit of a mess but he'd brushed it which was more than he normally did. Kellen brushed aside Ryland's comment as he went to find a seat in one of the SUV's they were taking.
"How do I look, Rye?" Charlotte asked in a sing-song, spinning in a circle in front of him. Her and Florence were wearing similar outfits again- both in navy knee length skirts and sleeveless button up blouses. Charlotte's blouse was light blue with a white collar and her ballet flats had a blue floral design. And Florence's blouse was white with yellow polka dots and collar, and her ballet flats had a yellow floral design. Florence's black wavy hair was pulled back in a half-up-do, and Charlotte's black waves hung loosely around her shoulders like a waterfall.
Ryland made a show of approval, even clapping a little as he said, "Wow. Stunning, ladies, absolutely beautiful." with a wide smile.
"And what about Anya? How does she look?" Florence asked with a cheeky grin as she pointed over Ryland's shoulder to Anya as she made her way into the garage between Dahlia and Irina. Dahlia was simply dressed in a long coral colored boho skirt with a tied-up white short sleeve crop top and brown leather woven ballet flats. Her dirty blond hair was curled at the ends and pulled back into a braid that was no doubt Anya's doing. Beside her, Irina wore a light blue high-low dress and sparkly silver pumps, her curls bouncing with each step she took.
But Ryland only just noticed the two girls. He really saw Anya.
She was wearing a coral colored bandeau A-line knee length sleeveless dress with a cream colored lace overlay along with nude peep toes that set her up a few inches. Beside Dahlia's five-foot-ten stature- even in flats- Anya looked small, but flawless nonetheless. Her strawberry blond hair fell across her shoulders in bouncing curls and upon further inspection Ryland noticed a few randomly placed small braids throughout her hair.
"Wow," Ryland breathed, raising his eyebrows. He gaped for a minute before smiling and saying, "Lovely. Absolutely lovely."
Anya blushed a real scarlet color, trying desperately to divert everyone's attention but Ryland's eyes stayed on her long after everyone else moved on. "Really," he whispered close to her ear when everyone else was distracted. "You look really wonderful. As much as I love you in giant sweats and messy curls, you look amazing all done up."
"You look pretty great yourself, Rye. You should dress up more often." Anya replied but Ryland was already shaking his head.
"Nope I can't do that." he said seriously and upon Anya's curious look, he added, "If I dress up a lot then you'll expect me to look great all the time. Then what are we gonna do when I look bad? I wouldn't want to let you down."
Anya rolled her eyes dramatically, even managing to pull out a blush from Ryland as she said. "Let's be real here, Ryland, you never look bad."
Ryland had all the time in the world to respond but he just couldn't think of a damned thing to say. He was literally speechless for a whole minute as he started at Anya with an expression caught somewhere between elation and confusion. She returned his gaze evenly, almost cocky because of the scarlet color of his neck.
"You love birds ready?" Florence chirped, appearing directly behind them. Anya smiled but Ryland grabbed Florence by the back of the neck and flung her towards the SUV. She giggled as she climbed into the car behind her sister.
"After you," Anya mumbled, trying to hide her chuckle as he climbed into the SUV in front of her. Anya wound up sandwiched between Dahlia and Ryland, Florence and Charlotte behind them. As they pulled out of the garage sunlight beat down on the car hard enough for the hood to get foggy. With the air conditioning cranked as high as possible, they made their way to the restaurant in New York evening traffic. Ryland kept shuffling around in his seat trying to get comfortable squished against the door to give Anya some room. Florence had her keen eye trained on him the whole time and started giggling quietly when he finally gave up his futile efforts and looped his arm around Anya's shoulders.
With his heavy arm across her shoulders, Anya looked over at Dahlia, knowing her best friend was loving the moment. Dahlia tried really hard not to make a big deal of it but everyone in the car was watching carefully as Ryland picked up a lose strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger absently.
When they arrived at the restaurant a swarm of paparazzi were waiting even around back. So Ryland tucked Anya under one arm and the twins under another and shuffled them into the restaurant so no one could hassle them too much. Everyone did the same, only fielding a few comments from the paps. Once inside the shelter of the restaurant they were seated immediately in a private room with a table almost as long as the one in the tower.
"Ahh I'd almost forgotten my love for Midgardian food." Thor said as he grabbed a menu and perused a minute. He really loved steaks and hamburgers and he was known to put away three helpings of french fries and Coco Cola was his lifeline when Thor was on earth. In Asgard it was more delicacies and foreign foods like bore and whatnot. As much as he enjoyed the Asgardian delicacies, sometimes Thor longed for a good burger.
So that's exactly what he got. The fancy restaurant didn't have hamburgers but Thor ordered one anyway and so the chef made one special for him. It wasn't even embarrassing anymore seeing as Thor always had an interesting time ordering no matter where they went. Everyone else kept their orders simple and though Clint hated fancy restaurants he had to admit his meal was rather delicious.
"This is the first place you've taken me, Stark, that doesn't have ridiculously small portions and weird sauces." Clint said as he finished up his meal. He gestured grandly to Tony who bowed a little from his seat. "You've done well, friend."
They kept conversation light throughout dinner, avoiding anything pertaining to Anya and Ryland's mission, S.H.I.E.L.D. or the incident at the pier. Irina and the twins still didn't know what had happened and Kellen only knew a little bit. And though Anya planned on telling Irina soon, she just couldn't think of a good time. Hell, is there a good time to tell your little sister you could possibly die soon?
It wasn't all that surprising that, after dinner before they all loaded into the SUV's, the team cornered Anya and Ryland. Clint, Tasha, Tony, Thor, Steve and Bruce all caught them at the exit, steering them aside so they could have a little chat without interruptions.
"You said Fury threw you off the case?" Steve asked as they huddled around the two kids. Ryland explained in a low voice that they were thrown off the case but after the incident at the pier they were reinstated and read-in last night. "So you're working with the agent who temporarily took over?"
"Agent Shaw, yeah." Anya replied, nodding.
"I've worked with her before," Natasha noted, getting a funny look on her face. "I don't entirely trust her but she gets the job done."
"Do you entirely trust anyone?" Tony quipped, earning a glare from Natasha.
"I trust myself," she replied. "I trust Clint, I trust this team, and I trust you kids. Am I happy about all of this? Hell no. Will I rip Fury a new one for tasking you with this? Abso-fucking-lutely. But for now I'm putting aside my own feelings. Cause whatever is happening is dangerous."
"You have no idea," Ryland mumbled under his breath. "But thanks for not throwing hissy fits."
Tony rolled his eyes, asking, "When have I ever?" It was a rhetorical question but everyone around him started listing off times when he'd thrown royal temper tantrums. Everyone talking at once, listing more than six times per person, it all sounded really bad. So Tony silenced them all as soon as possible by saying, "Anyway," loud enough for someone behind them to turn sideways in their chair. "We're not happy and Natasha's probably going to kill someone, what else is new?"
Bruce started shuffling through the contents of his jacket pockets then, distracting Anya and Ryland from rolling their eyes at Tony. "That dead guy at the pier," Bruce said as he pulled out a piece of paper. "We ran him through the database and learned a bit about him. But since he was supposedly dead there wasn't an address on file..."
"Yeah," Steve cut in, snatching the paper from Bruce and handing it to Anya and Ryland. "So we went to the park and flashed his picture to some of the regulars. And though most of the people there only knew him by his first name, there was one chess player who said they might know where he lives."
Tony continued for Steve, adding, "We worked some magic and pulled some strings and even greased a few wheels but we got you an address. That's where Doctor Kimble lived before he died."
"We figured there had to be something important there." Clint noted, gesturing to the slip of paper with a Union Square address written down in Natasha's hand writing. It was clearly the utmost form of team work Anya had seen from the group before her in a long time. She smiled a little as she tucked the paper in Ryland's pocket and looped her arms around Clint's waist.
"Thanks guys," she said sweetly, laying her head on her father's shoulder. "It means a lot to us that you're helping out despite how unhappy you all are about this."
"Yeah well..." Bruce mumbled, scratching his head and trying to come up with the right words. He looked to the group around him for the words he couldn't think of and finally someone said,
"It's what families do."
Author's Note: It just sort of dawned on me the other day that I've had virtually no Bruce or Steve in this story at all lol Even though it's a tiny little part, I gave them a little scene cause I miss them. There's actually two sets on my Polyvore (samitballi. polyvore. com) for this chapter! One is all the girls outfits for dinner which is titled Linchpin: Girly Girls. Then the other is the boy's outfits which is titled Linchpin: Manly Men.
Thanks!