AN: I only own Emily and various other OCs.
Chapter 10
For the next two weeks, my life was split between two men. During the day, I focused and worried about Captain Rogers. We were raising his body temperature about a degree a day, so it would be a while before it was back up to normal, or what was normal for him. Someone digging through the archives as punishment found the Captain's medical records, so we knew that he had run around 102° after the serum. My whole team was looking forward to the day we would no longer need to bundle up for work. Though, that would probably be about the time that the rest of New York started bundling up outside.
My nights and weekends, however, were spent with a certain Lieutenant. Carter and I spent every moment we could together, going to shows, restaurants, and clubs, or even going on picnics in the park. I wasn't too picky about what we did, just as long as I got to spend time with him. Then, two Thursdays after we met, he had bad news.
"Emily, I'm so sorry, but the General is done here in New York. We'll be leaving Saturday morning, heading back to the Pentagon," he told me over dinner.
I had blissfully ignored the fact that Carter didn't actually live in New York, but this brought it back rather forcefully. "Oh," was all I managed to say in my shock.
"Emily, you had to know this would happen," Carter said, a bit sternly.
"I know, I guess I just forgot. Or maybe hoped we would have longer, that's all," I replied, trying to put a happy face on.
"Don't worry, I'll come back whenever I have a weekend off or something. And I think the General will probably have me come back when Captain Rogers wakes up. He wants to have an eye on things."
"You know I'm still not going to tell you anything, right?"
"Of course. But the General doesn't need to know that. Especially since it gives me the chance to come see you again," Carter answered logically.
We made plans to have one last night together before he left. But then, I was ambushed by Delia and Ava at lunch the next day. "We never see you anymore!" Delia cried. "I miss our little training group."
"We are going out tonight, celebrating our release from training, 'cause not all of us can be Wonder Woman and be done with training in a week," Ava told me, mock-glaring.
"It would have been different if I was going to be an agent, but I already knew everything I need for Medical," I replied. "But I can't go out with you tonight. I have plans with Carter since he's leaving in the morning."
"Really?" Ava whined. "You've had plans with him every night since you met him. We need to celebrate! And we need our training buddy!"
"You can bring him with," Delia suggested. "I mean, Drake and I will be together, and Ava's bringing that cute Agent Ward along, so it would totally be fine if you brought Carter. And we still have to meet him to approve of this whole relationship."
I was overruled. "Let me see what Carter thinks, and I'll let you know, okay?" Ava wasn't too happy about that answer, but Delia squealed like I'd given her a million dollars.
"We are going to have so much fun!" she said, once she'd released me from her hug.
After talking to Carter, I informed the girls that we would meet up with them that night. After more squealing (from Delia) and some grumbles (from Ava), we agreed to meet up at some new club Delia had heard about from some of the other recruits. "But one of these nights, we seriously have to have a girls' night," Ava informed.
Since Carter wasn't picking me up until seven-thirty, I had a chance to go home and get ready. And as it was our last night together, I wanted to give him a little something to remember me by. I went all out, leaving my hair down, making sure each strand was curled to perfection. Going for the dramatic look, I gave myself some serious smoky eyes, and blood-red lips. And to finish it all off, I pulled out my favorite dress: a little silver sequined number that formed to my every curve, stopping about mid thigh.
Dad knocked on my open bedroom door as I buckled my ankle-strap heels on. "Going out again tonight?" he asked, a bit needlessly. It's not like I dressed like that to stay home and Netflix all night.
"Yep, Carter and I are meeting some friends for his last night here in town," I told him, then took in his outfit. He was wearing a tux. So either he had a date, or he was going undercover. "Are you and Audrey going somewhere?"
"She's got a concert here tonight, so I'm going, and then we're going to dinner afterwards," he replied, then went back to my plans. "You're going out with friends tonight? I'm glad, you haven't seen much of them since you started dating Carter."
"Well, that's what happens when you start dating someone, Dad, especially when you have a limited time with that person. Carter is leaving in the morning," I informed him, grabbing my earrings as I stood up.
"Isn't that dress a bit short?" Dad asked, eyebrows in his hair.
"It covers everything, even when I bend over. I checked before I bought it," was my, slightly snappy, retort.
His eyebrows were still raised in disbelief. It almost looked like they were stuck like that. "All I'm saying is that you shouldn't ignore your old friends just because you have a new boyfriend."
Carter ringing the doorbell saved me from a potentially awkward conversation. "See you later," I told Dad, kissing his cheek. "And have fun with Audrey!"
When I opened the door and saw Carter, I was reminded of how lucky I was to be his girlfriend. He had a blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had some really sexy forearms. "Hey," he said, after I'd spent a moment staring at him.
"Hi," I replied, somewhat awkwardly.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked slowly.
"Oh, um, yeah, I am. Yeah, let's go," I said quickly, trying to get past my random burst of awkwardness. I just had moments where I couldn't believe he'd actually chosen me.
We met the others at the bar, and we had a good time. Poor Carter felt a bit out of the loop, since we all worked together, but we somehow managed. The two of us didn't stay terribly long, since it was the night before he was supposed to leave, but Delia was satisfied. I got the feeling that Ava wasn't happy, but you can't please everyone, right?
Once Carter and I left the others, we then had the tough decision of what we should do for the rest of the night. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but as long as I was with Carter, I wasn't going to be too picky. Or so I thought.
"Why don't we head back to my hotel room? I just want to be with you tonight," he said, nuzzling my neck.
I instantly froze. Unfortunately, Carter noticed. "What? Don't you want to be with me?" he asked, pulling back and looking a bit offended.
"No, it's not like that. I'm just… I'm just not going to sleep with you after two weeks of knowing you. I'm not ready for that," I told him.
"But I'm leaving in the morning, and I don't know when I'll come back." Now his tone was a bit wheedling.
"Carter, I'm not going to sleep with you just because it's your last night in town," I said softly. "I'm not ready for that just yet. And if you can't accept that, well then, have a good flight in the morning." After that, I disentangled myself from his arms and started walking toward home.
I'd gone about five steps when arms went around my waist. "Okay, I won't push you. I'm sorry. You just really looked good in that dress. It's not fair to tease me like that," Carter laughed.
I turned around to face him. "Are you okay with waiting?"
"Not really, but if it's between waiting and losing you, I guess I have to be," he sighed. Then he kissed me quickly. "So what do you want to do for the rest of the night?"
We ended up at a comedy club, which wasn't that funny. The place was actually kind of grubby. I felt a bit dirty when we left, especially after all the looks that kept coming my way. But Carter kept his arm firmly around my shoulders, so I knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to me.
Around two o'clock, Carter took me home, but we took a while saying our goodbyes. So it was a teensy bit awkward when we heard Dad clearing his throat behind us, interrupting our kiss. Carter took that very unsubtle hint and told me, "I'll call you when I can. And I should be up to see you in about two weeks. You could come visit me, too."
"I'll try, but right now I can't. I can't leave Captain Rogers. At least not until he wakes up," I reminded.
"Yeah, that's right. Well, whenever you can, I will be more than happy to see you," he said, then kissed me again. "I'll miss you," he added in a whisper.
"I'll miss you, too." I was not looking forward to this separation at all. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it, but I was very determined to not let Carter see how upset I really was.
Finally, Dad's scary "I can kill you with a piece of paper" look sent Carter to the elevator. I watched until the doors closed behind him, then Dad guided me into our apartment. I crumpled, but Dad's arms were already around me.
…
I slept like the dead after that, not even waking when Achilles cuddled his way into my arms. My phone going off around ten finally did, though. "Hello?" I croaked, not even awake enough to check the caller ID.
"Hey, get your butt over to Delia's. We're having brunch, then we're going shopping. She desperately needs a new wardrobe, and we are just the people to help her. Meet us at eleven," Ava ordered, then hung up before I even had the chance to comprehend what she'd said, let alone reply.
Groaning, I crawled out of bed with the grace of a zombie, then headed to the shower. Sadly, even that only partially woke me up. Still in my zombie-like state, I managed to throw together an outfit that was suitable for shopping. Achilles kept jumping around my feet, making me almost trip over him. I felt bad, partly because I had very nearly hurt him, but mostly because I'd sort of ignored him for the past two weeks. Then I had an idea.
"Can I bring Achilles over?" I texted Delia, knowing that she would most probably say yes. And she did. "Of course you can! He's so cute and tiny!" was her gushing response.
"Come on, buddy. You get to go out with the girls today. You are one lucky boy, yes, you are!" I told him, in a rather babyish tone of voice. His ears perked up, and his tail was wagging so hard, I was almost afraid it would fall off.
So, once I got myself ready, I snapped his leash onto his collar and headed out of my room. Dad was sitting in the living room, reading the paper with a cup of tea in his hand. "Where are you going looking like that so early on a Saturday?" he asked, very curious.
"My presence is required by Delia and Ava," I replied. "And I was afraid that if I didn't go, they just might come and drag me out in my pajamas."
"Well, have fun. And take care of Roxie," he added, just as I opened the front door.
"How did you know I was planning on taking Roxie?" I asked in astonishment.
"Please. I'm your father and a spy. You should know better than to ask me things like that by now."
I had to admit that he was right, so I merely waved and left the apartment. Achilles was so excited to leave that he practically dragged me to the elevator. But when we exited it in the underground parking garage, he was very confused. And a bit scared. It was adorable. The poor puppy had never been down there, since I rarely drove anywhere in the city, and it was awfully different than anything he'd ever seen.
Eventually, I had to pick him up, because he refused to move away from the elevator. Once again, I was grateful that Dad had picked a small breed for me. I walked over to our apartment's designated parking spaces, and easily the two most expensive cars in the whole garage. Dad had a weird thing for Corvettes, and he had somehow managed to get two 1962 models after some kind of SHIELD raid. Well, he got the first one, and then got the second one for me when I showed an interest. After he had given me Roxie, which had been fitted with a few SHIELD tricks, Dad never let me drive Lola again.
I got Achilles settled, even buckled him in, since I knew how bad New York traffic could get. He was surprisingly patient through the whole process. But once we got going, he started yipping in happiness. And then howling along with the radio. It really was the cutest thing ever. And when I parked in front of Delia's building, I realized that I was completely awake. "Thanks, buddy," I told him, cuddling my face into his fur for a moment. He licked my nose in reply.
Delia buzzed me in, then had the door to her apartment wide open when I got there. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said, giving me a hug. "And you, too, Achilles! You are the cutest little thing ever!" She took Achilles from me without even seeming to notice.
Ava was already there, flipping some crepes and looking utterly fabulous, as per usual. "Hey, how many crepes do you guys want?" she called across the tiny apartment.
"All of them," I replied, realizing that, now that I was really awake, I was starving.
"I get a few!" Delia protested. "It's my kitchen, after all."
"And I definitely get some, since I'm making them," Ava added. "By the way, if your dog goes missing, don't come looking for him at my place. He's so freaking adorable."
Once Delia was done greeting my puppy, she and I started cutting fruit, whipping cream, and finding anything else that looked good for our crepes. And when we finally tasted them, it was like heaven in my mouth. "Oh. My. Holy. Crap. These are delicktable," Delia moaned.
Ava and I both choked at that, since we'd both just gotten a forkful in our mouths. "Delicktable?" Ava snorted, once she got past the food caught in her throat.
"Well, I started to say delicious, and then delectable wanted to come out, so it came out as delicktable," Delia grinned, slightly self-consciously.
"Well, they are rather lickable," I joked, "so it totally works!"
The rest of the meal passed in similar hijinks. I hadn't laughed so hard in a while. Or eaten that much in one sitting. But the moment we were all done eating, it was all business. "Okay, we need to go through your wardrobe, honey," Ava told Delia bluntly. "Now that we can actually wear real clothes and not just work out clothes to work, we desperately need to help you."
Delia looked a bit glum. "Yeah, I need your help. I thought I had a good sense of fashion, but then I moved here. I guess small-town Illinois doesn't cut it in New York."
"But that's why you've got two native New Yorkers to help you," I assured. "We'll see what you've got, then help you get some more. And I brought my car, which makes the shopping thing a bit easier."
When Delia led us to her closet, it was like walking into Barbie's Dreamhouse. There was so much pink that it made my eyes hurt. "Okay, first rule, you don't have to have pink everything," Ava sighed.
"But it's my signature color. It makes me feel feminine," Delia replied in a small voice.
"You can be feminine without pink throwing up on you," Ava countered.
"And I'm sorry, honey, but most shades of pink are not going to go with your coloring," I added, feeling like a jerk. But I was trying to help her. And then I had an idea. "How do you feel about purple?"
"I like it," Delia said slowly. "But I don't know if I can pull it off."
"Try this," Ava said, whipping off the scarf she had around her neck. And before poor Delia could even react, Ava had it looped over her head. "I think you could totally pull off purple," Ava said judiciously. "Just don't go overboard with it."
It took a while, but we managed to cull Delia's closet of most of the pink. At least, all of the crazy cat lady pink. She did have some really cute things hidden in there. She just didn't have any idea of how to put them together to create an outfit.
Once we were done, there was a huge pile on the floor of things to take to the thrift store. And Achilles was asleep on top. "Oh my goodness, he's so precious!" Delia cooed.
"And really well trained," Ava observed.
"Thankfully, Dad trained him before he gave him to me," I replied. "Apparently, Dad is a really good dog trainer. But he's had enough practice with Clint, I guess."
"You mean Agent Barton? He's really cute," Ava said contemplatively.
"Don't go there," I warned. "Not only is he a pain in the butt, but Tasha would kill you."
"Are they together?" Delia asked, looking eager for some good office gossip.
I hesitated. They'd asked me not to say anything, and here I'd stepped into it haphazardly because I wasn't watching my mouth. Thankfully, Ava caught onto my dilemma. "Eh, don't worry about it. I don't think I want to date a fellow agent, anyway. Can you imagine if you did, then broke up? How awkward would that be if you ever had to work on a mission together?"
"That happens more than you'd think," I said, giggling in remembrance. "Dad told me about one couple who ended up yelling at each other during a firefight. The whole team found out about his preference for Batman underwear."
Eventually, we stopped laughing enough to go shopping. Both girls about died when they saw my car. "This is yours?" Delia squeaked.
"Yeah, Dad got Roxie and his car, Lola, in some kind of raid. And since he's one of SHIELD's most senior agents, no one argued when he asked for them," I smiled.
"Aren't you afraid someone's going to steal it? I mean, this is New York, after all," Ava said skeptically.
"Well, I rarely drive her, so she's normally in the garage, and she's got some awesome anti-theft features, courtesy of SHIELD," I replied.
"Like what?" I could tell Delia's inner techie was working overtime, trying to come up with ideas.
"Like if someone other than my dad or myself touches her first, she screams like a little girl," I said, unlocking the door.
Both of them looked rather apprehensively at my car. "It's okay, you can get in now," I assured. "I just have to be the first one to touch her, that's all."
I slid behind the wheel, while Ava gestured for Delia to get in first. Technically, my car was a two-seater, but we all managed to fit. "I'm really glad none of us are fatties," Ava said as she closed the door.
"Sorry, girls. This is the only car I have, and I figured it would be better than trying to carry a ton of bags around and stuffing them in a cab. And then forgetting something," I replied. "And Roxie has a pretty good trunk."
"She's gonna have some junk in her trunk," Ava muttered. Then we all burst out laughing again.
I had more fun that day than I'd had in a very long time. Definitely since before med school. We found so many clothes for Delia, making sure she had outfits, and not just clothes. Her signature color would be purple, but we emphasized that didn't mean she could only wear purple. We found her purple tops, skirts, shoes, and accessories. Enough that she could always wear something purple, but didn't look like a walking plum.
We also made sure to find her things in every other color under the sun, and in fun prints. When Ava found an awesome leopard print top, it took a bit of convincing for her to try it on, but once she did, she didn't want to take it off. "I love it!" she squealed.
After four hours of shopping, Ava and I were sitting in the chairs outside Delia's dressing room, being the audience for her personal runway show. As she changed from one outfit to the next, I turned to Ava. "Thanks for doing this. I know it wasn't just for Delia."
"Well, I figured you needed to do something other than mope over the fact that your new boyfriend just left for who knows how long. And you can't tell me shopping isn't more therapeutic than eating ice cream and Netflixing," she said, bumping her shoulder into mine. I didn't say anything, just bumped her back.
So this is what it feels like, I thought. To have girlfriends who like to do normal things, instead of spy stuff. It's kinda nice.
AN: I am so sorry it took so long for this chapter. I had such a hard time writing Carter, it was like pulling teeth. I promise that it will never take me more than a week to update from now on. Especially now that we are getting to a very fun part. At least for me.
On another note, thanks to all the favorites/follows/reviews. It means so much to me. And thanks to DeadlyThorn1997 andangelmusiclove98, there will be a few oneshots taking place before this story. The first one will be Emily meeting Phil. It's coming along slowly, but it will happen.