Author's Note: Two chapters in two days! Man, you guys are getting spoiled! Thanks to all the awesome reviewers, favoriters, and followers. I hope you enjoy this latest installment of the ChristyVerse.
On a side note, I have a bit of a problem. When planning out this story, I mentally had planned out until about...this chapter. So I was wondering if anyone could offer up a suggestion for the next few chapters. Since this is really more of an "origin story" for my series, I don't want anything too crazy to happen, but I'm open to suggestions. I envision the story at about 15 or so chapters.
Thanks!
Chapter Ten
Dinner was a complete mishmash of different foods; Bruce had made butter chicken curry with vegetables, Tony and Pepper had "made" (bought) Chinese takeout, and Natasha had made some kind of traditional Russian soup. There was just enough food for everybody, but not a complete overabundance.
"Good thing Thor's not here, or we'd be sunk." Clint said to Steve, who rolled his eyes.
"Why?" Christy asked. "And where is Thor?"
"When I got the serum, everything got enhanced— made bigger." Steve explained. "That includes my appetite. I eat more than most people and so does Thor."
"Oh, okay. So is Thor back…where he came from?"
Natasha nodded. "Yup, he's on Asgard. We don't know when he'll be back."
Christy looked a little upset at that (she was rather interested in meeting the thunder god), but nodded. "Okay."
They were about halfway through eating when the doorbell chimed once more. Clint stood up to get it.
In stepped Coulson and Hill. Hill was carrying a wrapped package under her arm and Coulson…was carrying a huge sheet cake.
"Sorry we're late." he said. "It seemed like every mom in the world was in the cake pick-up line."
Christy was staring at the cake. "Is that for me?" she whispered.
Steve nudged her. "People first, then cake." She nodded, but not before sneaking one last look at the cake. The frosting was red-white-and blue with a plastic Captain America figure on top.
"Christy, this is Phil Coulson and Maria Hill. They…sort of help out the Avengers; they work for SHIELD. Remember I told you about SHIELD?"
"Uh-huh. They're super spies, like James Bond, only cooler. And better."
Clint smirked at the mental image of Coulson ordering a "shaken, not stirred" martini.
Hill grinned. "We're so much cooler. Look." she took out a pair of sunglasses and slipped them on. "See?"
Christy grinned appreciatively. "Cool. Can I have a pair?"
"Christy…" Steve warned. But Hill merely held out the package, saying, "Why don't you open and find out?"
Christy ripped off the paper to find a pair of black, SHIELD-issue sunglasses and several laminated black-and-white photos of Captain America and his Howling Commandos, straight from the forties.
Her jaw dropped at the pictures. "Dad? Is this you?"
Steve peered at the pictures. "Coulson…where did you get these?"
The man shrugged. "SHIELD had a bunch in your file. I made duplicates to leave in place of these. I figured you both deserved the originals."
"Thanks…" Steve blinked back a rush of tears. It was good to have some of the old pictures, but it also brought back too many memories to deal with tonight.
Christy frowned, sensing his change in mood. "I…I think I'll put these in my room, to keep them safe. Thanks, Uncle Phil; thanks Aunt Maria!"
As she dashed off, all the adults sat down at the table to finish eating.
"She's adorable, Cap!" Hill said. "She looks exactly like you!"
"But it's more than looks." Natasha added. "There's something else…the same willingness to give a chance…"
Bruce nodded. "Yeah. Know what she said she'd do if I transformed? Make friends with the Hulk! I couldn't believe it!"
"She's like me minus two years of combat and one seventy-year sleep." Steve said. "All determination and high ideals."
"So, essentially, the same as you now." Tony interjected.
"And innocence." Steve added pointedly.
"Good." Coulson said softly. "I think the world could use another kid from Brooklyn too stubborn to back down from a fight. There's a lot of lost causes and not enough people to take them up."
By the time Christy came back and finished her dinner, everyone was more than ready to start on dessert. They all oohed and ahhed (and laughed) over Coulson's Captain America cake, which made Christy get out her plastic shield and start zooming around the living room area. Steve was starting to wonder if she'd had too much excitement for one night, when…
Ding-dong!
Coulson, Hill, Clint, and Natasha all looked at each other.
"Did he actually come?" Hill muttered. Coulson shrugged.
"Only one way to find out." He opened the door and, sure enough, there stood the director of SHIELD himself, Nick Fury.
"Okay, who invited the eye patch?" Tony asked.
"The good Captain was kind enough to extend an invitation, Stark." Fury replied, stepping into the apartment.
Christy tugged at Steve's shirtsleeve. "Daddy…" she whispered, "who's the scary man with the eye patch?"
Natasha, who was standing close, snorted. Steve ignored her and replied, "He's the guy in charge of SHIELD, remember, baby? His name's Nick Fury."
Nodding, Christy slowly stepped away from next to him, toward the rather imposing director. Steve was just glad that Fury had forgone his typical suit and was wearing semi-casual clothing.
"Hey, kid." Fury said. "You like it here, so far?"
Christy nodded again and stuck out her hand. "I like it. Nice…nice to meet you, Uncle Nick."
The room went silent enough to hear a pin drop. Steve was ready to insist that Christy maybe stick with "Uncle Fury," when the man in question smirked and shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you, too, kid. I see you've got more than just your dad's looks." At Christy's confused look, he added, "You've got his manners, and his guts, too. You're gonna need it, living around here."
With that, the ice was broken. The rest of the evening was taken up with much talking, eating, and laughing. Bruce, Tony, and Pepper also gave Christy their presents: a beautifully illustrated book of fairy tales, a Stark-issued i-pod, and a laptop.
"Stark! What in the world does she need a laptop for?" Steve argued, even as Christy booted up the device.
Tony shrugged. "Play games, watch movies, do homework? Besides, look, she loves it!"
Steve groaned.
He could see that while Christy got along well with everyone, definite patterns were starting to emerge. She went to Natasha to ask for help opening something (when she didn't ask him), Clint or Bruce to show something off, Pepper for an explanation, and Tony…to joke. She also seemed to be talking to Coulson a lot.
All in all, it was a good night. He finally kicked everybody out around ten.
"Christy needs to sleep, guys…"
Tony stood up. "And that, my friends, is code for, 'get out, you lazy bums!' I'm out."
Everyone slowly took their leave, leaving the new father and daughter to their first night alone.
Steve looked around the floor. He definitely didn't want to do dishes—clean up could wait till morning. He put the extra food in the fridge as Christy lay on the couch, clutching her new doll.
"You ready for bed, baby?" he asked.
Christy yawned. "Maybe…" Steve smiled.
"How about you get ready for bed? Your pajamas are in your room."
"Okay." she said sleepily. She got off the couch and went into her room.
Steve decided to clean up after all, to give her a moment. When he finished the dishes, he went and knocked on Christy's door.
"Come in, Daddy!"
He entered the room to find Christy practically swallowed in her new bed. The bed frame already present when he'd moved in was queen-sized, so he and Pepper had purchased a queen-sized mattress. Now, seeing his admittedly tiny daughter actually in the bed, he wondered if maybe they should've gone for a smaller bed.
"Did you brush your teeth?" he asked. Christy nodded, and then yawned again.
"Daddy…can I…can you sing?" she looked down quickly and mumbled something.
Steve sat down next to her on the bed. "What was that?"
Christy slowly lifted her head. "Mommy used to sing me lullaby." she whispered.
"Ohhh…I can do that." Steve assured her.
"Really?"
"Really. Look, Christy, if you want something, don't hesitate to tell me. The worst I can say is no, but it will always be no for a good reason. And…I can't replace your mom, but I can try to do things that are familiar. Understand?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh. Thanks, Daddy."
"Now, what song do you want to hear?"
Christy thought. "Uh…you pick!"
Steve mentally groaned; he could barely remember the lullabies of his childhood and the lullabies of today had not exactly been a part of his "catch-up studies."
"Sure you don't have a favorite?" he asked again, trying to stall.
"Well…Mommy used to sing 'Baby Mine.' From Dumbo."
Dumbo! Now, that brought back a memory, sharp and strong. Bucky had dragged him to see it, trying to distract him from news of the war in Europe.
But the song…
"I can do that." he said. "Lie down, now."
Christy lay down as Steve dimmed the lights a bit. He cleared his throat.
"I might be a little rusty…it's been awhile."
"Since you sang or since you saw Dumbo?"
Steve chuckled. "Both. But I saw Dumbo in theaters, right when it first came out."
Christy sat up a little. "Really? What was it like?"
"It was…nice. Really nice. Alright, lay back down, it's almost eleven o'clock."
"O-kay." Christy complied.
Steve sighed and, for once, willingly let his mind transport him back to his past, to that one day with Bucky in the dark, popcorn-infused theater. He'd liked Dumbo; he'd identified with the titular elephant quite a lot.
"Ba-by mine, don't you cry,
Ba-by mine, dry your eyes,
Rest your head, close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine…
Little one, when you play,
Don't you mind, what they say
Let those eyes, sparkle and shine, never a tear
Baby of mine…"
By the time he'd finished the second verse, Christy was out like a light. He gently kissed her forehead.
"Night, baby girl. Have good dreams…I'll be here when you wake up."
That night, for the first time in a very long time, both the man out of time and the girl who was lost slept soundly all through the night.