Notes: The fluff continues! This fic is such a palette cleanser and SOOOO fun to write. Even if Scott Summers is the slowest mover in the UNIVERSE.

CC - I'm glad you like the detail about the different hues. That makes total sense to me, and Scott isn't totally BLIND and seems to be able to function alright, so… But yes, Annie is adorable and hilarious and not at all subtle and yet somehow all her flirting is going right over Scott's head? It's a mystery, I tell you.

Griezz - My family did the same thing! I'm glad the chapter brought back warm feelings :)

Without any further ado, here's a little something special: a peek in on Annie's point of view!

Chapter 10: I Leave You Alone for Five Minutes...

Annie had been a little disappointed that Scott had decided not to come to the Sunday dinner with Anton and Rachel. She was getting used to having him around these past few days, though she could appreciate that he was trying to keep from getting in the way of her family.

He just didn't know yet that with the Hales, it had always been the case that 'the more the merrier' was the creed they lived by.

So it was a little strange driving home alone that night after spending the whole day playing with her nieces and chatting with Anton and Rachel. She'd brought home a stack of CDs she was borrowing from Rachel — a whole bunch of the songs that she was always humming so that Scott could hear the source material. And she had another one of Leslie Ann's coloring book pages for her collection. She kept all of Leslie Ann's creations in a drawer in the kitchen so she could be sure to hang the most recent ones on the fridge door so Leslie Ann could see how proud her aunt was.

Mary Beth had learned how to say 'please' and 'thank you,' and she'd been showing off her new skills through peals of laughter. So it was impossible for Annie to be in anything but a good mood as she drove home with her CDs and coloring book page and kisses from both of her favorite little girls - even if she was disappointed that Scott hadn't come. If nothing else, she thought he would have liked to hear that Anton was doing just fine at work, since the governor had been made aware of an Avenger in the city and the chief wasn't about to retaliate when they were under that kind of scrutiny.

She pulled into the garage and gathered up her things, though when she got inside, she was surprised to find that her little townhouse was simply… pristine.

She set down the CDs and coloring page and looked around the house, her head tipped to the side until she found Scott dead asleep on the couch with the blanket only halfway pulled up to waist level and one arm hanging over the side of the couch.

Everything else in the house was clean. The floors were swept, the counters wiped down… Annie even made her way upstairs to find that the half-built desk she had been working on before she got a call from Anton about Scott in the first place was now standing, with all her textbooks and school supplies organized and set on the desk.

She came back downstairs shaking her head. Scott was supposed to be resting up, not cleaning her whole house! What had he been thinking?

She shook her head again, hardly believing the whole situation, though she couldn't stop smiling either. This was… unexpectedly sweet. She had to admit it.

Still in a haze of disbelief, she went through the house to lock up and turn off the lights, then paused when Scott moved slightly in his sleep. She wasn't sure if she'd woken him up, but for just a moment, when he still looked dead to the world, she had the oddest desire to brush his hair out of his face where it had fallen into the rim of his glasses while he was sleeping.

But she was glad she didn't when he stretched again. It was hard to tell if he was awake or asleep with the glasses covering his eyes, but it was clear she'd woken him up when he muttered out a tired 'hi.'

"Hi yourself," she said, smiling despite her best intentions as she sat down on the loveseat. "Did you sleep well?"

"I guess so," he said, though he sounded surprised at the fact that he had drifted off — or maybe at the fact that he'd slept through her arrival. "How long have you been home?"

"Not long," she said, smiling wider despite all her best attempts to play it cool and not make a complete idiot of herself in front of Scott. "Just long enough to see what all you've been up to while I was gone. Is this why you didn't want to come with me?"

He looked a little sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "No, that's not it. I just thought you should have a nice time with your family without having to worry about taking care of me."

She shook her head at his response and gestured around the room at the pristine state of affairs. "Yes, because you're such an invalid."

He chuckled at that. "Well, Phoebe did say two weeks, and it's only been one," he pointed out. "And you were so set on holding me to that…"

"When you were dying," she said, shaking her head again. "Honestly."

For some reason, that got a grin out of him. "I wasn't dying."

"Looked like it to me."

"I think I'd have known if I was."

"You didn't even know where you were when you woke up here."

He tipped his head her way, the grin refusing to let up. "Fair point."

She let out a little noise of disbelief and threw one of the throw pillows at him. He caught it with one hand, grinning wider. "Well, whatever you were before, you're clearly not — dying or whatever — so… there," she said with a huff.

He chuckled as he started to sit up a little more, but she quickly held up both hands. "No, no, I woke you up. You just go back to sleep — I'm sure you're tired…"

"I wasn't trying to get out of going," he said, ignoring her and sitting up as he put the blanket neatly aside. "And it wasn't a … ploy to wait until you were gone." He rubbed his neck again. "I just wanted to help."

Annie let out all her breath at once as she had to bite back a laugh. Of course — hadn't he been saying that this whole time? "You really didn't have to go to all that trouble."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to either," he said quietly.

"Well… of course I did," Annie said, pushing her hair back with both hands before she found herself utterly at a loss for words. And that was simply not something that she had any real experience with.

She wasn't sure she liked it — the silence.

She cleared her throat quickly. "Anyway, it would have been nice to have you along. We always , play games once the girls go to bed — you know, after we've done the requisite Chutes and Ladders with Leslie Ann — and it would be nice to have someone on my team to beat Rachel and Anton."

He paused for a long time. "Maybe next time," he said at last, and she was surprised by just how widely the grin spread over her face at his answer.

She shook her head at him and got to her feet. "Good," she said, smoothing out her jeans with both hands as she headed for the stars to get some rest herself. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, bit her bottom lip, and sighed before she rushed back over and very quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek. "And… thanks."

She was flushing a brilliant red, and he looked downright… lost. So, she swallowed hard and tried to pretend she hadn't just kissed the strange man who had been living in her house for a week as she headed upstairs.

She had a very hard time getting to sleep that night.

The next morning when Annie came downstairs, the coffee had already been started, as well as her sweet tea and toast, though she wasn't sure if she was grateful or not about the fact that Scott didn't bring up anything that was said or done the night before. In fact, if it hadn't been for the little wave he gave her, she would have wondered if he had even noticed she was there with how deeply involved he was in the laptop, his chin resting in the palm of one hand as he scrolled with the other on the keypad.

"Good morning," she said as she sat down with the tea and the toast, pleasantly surprised by how sweet the tea was.

"Morning," he said without looking up from what he was doing.

She frowned and tipped her head to the side. "How's the job search going?"

"About as well as I expect it to," he said, finally turning his attention from the laptop with a small sigh. "Sorry — I'll keep looking."

"What on earth are you apologizing for?"

He seemed surprised — either by the question or by her tone — and he paused over his answer. "You… if you were serious about letting me stay until I can get my feet under me…"

"It's really not an imposition. I like having people over," she assured him quickly, already guessing where he was headed. She'd spent enough time with him to figure out that much, at least. She paused before she couldn't help but add, "It's better than being holed up here by myself."

She saw the corners of his mouth turn up. "Yeah, I don't think you spend much time alone here. But I could be wrong. I've only been here for a week."

"No, I don't," she admitted. "At least, Theresa calls often, and Rachel's family visits, but — oh, you know what I mean."

"Not really," he said, still with that same near-smirk as he turned back to the laptop.

She didn't realize how badly she was blushing until she had another sip of sweet tea and the glass fogged up the slightest bit. She shook her head to herself and set the glass back down, but then there was that maddening quiet again. "I didn't know Alaska boys could make sweet tea," she said at last, for something to do.

"Hmm?" He looked up at her, distracted from whatever had his focus until then, and then he shrugged. "Oh, well — Rogue."

"What?"

"She was on my team—"

"I know, I watch the news. But what does that have to do with sweet tea?"

"Well, she was from Mississippi…"

"Ah." Annie held up a hand and almost laughed. "Say no more; I get it."

"And then there was Gambit," Scott said, starting to smile as he said it. "Who got offended if you didn't sweeten your tea."

"Sounds like my kind of guy," she teased.

"That's all it takes? Sweet tea?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Good taste," she corrected him, grinning wider when he shook his head at her response.

"If you say so," he said, turning back to what he was doing, and she shook her head right back at him before she returned to her own breakfast. She found herself scooting a little closer and a little closer, though, curious as to what he was up to, and he didn't make a move to move away, either, apparently perfectly fine with her peering over his shoulder.

She frowned. "You don't have to stay here," she said as she noticed that all of the jobs he was looking at were in Anchorage.

"I know." He paused and turned her way. "Would you rather I didn't?"

"No," she said quickly.

"Alright then," he said as if that settled matters and went right back to what he was doing.

"It's just…" She took in her breath and held it. "I don't want you to think you have to, just because I asked you to — if you can't find anything you like…"

"No, no," he said. "It makes sense." He gestured to the notebook full of crossed-out options. "Right now, there's not really a team I can join, and even if I did…" He let out a sigh. "I think it might be better if I laid low for a while, so nobody else gets accused of being a terrorist with me, or gets thrown into my fights."

She frowned at that and watched him. He seemed like he meant it, but he didn't really… there was something about the set of his shoulders, she guessed. He was hard to read, but something was off, anyway.

"Well, Anton's still a cop even after all the crap he's been through," she said suddenly.

He looked up in surprise. "What?"

She frowned, trying to find the right words to express the sentiment. "I just meant… you shouldn't let other people stop you from doing something you love."

Scott was quiet for a lot time, which Annie knew by this point meant that he was thinking over his answer carefully. Finally, he seemed to let out all the breath in his lungs at once as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The only thing I've ever done is try to keep my team and, well, everyone else safe. Maybe the best way to do that right now is not to be around."

She frowned. "And that's why you're looking for jobs at a bagel factory."

"Well, that and the fact that it's what's available," Scott said with the slightest of smirks.

She shook her head at him and pursed her lips. "That's not a very good reason."

"Maybe not," he admitted. "But hey, I can always find something else if the bagels don't work out, right?" he asked, the smirk widening as it was clear he was doing his utmost to stop her frown.

"Honestly." She shook her head at him. "Find something you like, Scott."

"I'll start with something to help pay my rent," he countered.

She threw her hands in the air to illustrate how done she was with the conversation, and she only got more annoyed when she thought she heard him laugh the slightest bit. She took her glass of sweet tea and clutched it to her chest. "I'm taking my tea," she said haughtily.

"Okay."

"And you can't have any."

He laughed. "Okay."

She sniffed and turned her back to him, taking her toast and tea to the living room as she searched through her favorite movies and shows for something to watch while she ate. By the time she'd finally settled on NCIS, she'd already finished her breakfast, but she made herself comfortable all the same, stealing back the blanket that no longer smelled like flour but like Phoebe's burn ointment.

She wrinkled her nose. She should really run that through the wash. Even if it did smell weirdly nice.

She wrapped herself up in the blanket and the smell and was perfectly content right where she was, thank you very much, when Scott sat down on the couch nearby. He still had the notebook in his hand and seemed to be going over a few things, but when she shot him a questioning look, he just smiled her way and tipped his head toward the television.

"I didn't think you were the procedural type," he said.

"You have seen my rows and rows of mystery novels, haven't you?" she pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not quite the same. These are less…" He paused. "It's more about the drama than the mystery."

"Sometimes," she conceded. "But allow a girl a guilty pleasure or two, would you?"

"It wasn't a criticism," he promised, both hands held up with the pen held between his fingers on his right hand. "I just thought it was interesting, that's all."

"You were expecting, what, more Andy Griffith?"

"A little bit, yes."

She broke into a smile as she leaned forward. "Actually, I had the biggest crush on one of the guys in M*A*S*H* when I was growing up."

"Really?" He leaned forward with a smile to match hers. "Which one?"

"Hunnicut, of course," she said, waving her hand.

The smiled widened. "Most people say Hawkeye."

She made a little noise in the back of her throat. "All flash. No substance."

He laughed at loud at that. "Alright then."

She grinned over at him as she readjusted the blanket around her shoulders. It was the middle of summer, but she liked the sensation of being wrapped up, and besides, she had the fan on. And she was still grinning right up through getting up and dropping down to sit next to him, pressing the remote into his hands. "You pick something," she instructed him.

He stared at the remote for a moment before something like a smirk crossed over his expression all at once, and he didn't say one word to her until he'd pulled up his selection — Season 5 of M*A*S*H.

She turned to face him with a look that was nearly exasperated. "What?"

"I thought we'd start in the season where it gets good," he said with a completely neutral expression.

Annie wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or smother him — but one of those options was safer than the other, so she threw a throw pillow at him until he laughed and then sniffed out an "honestly" until he stopped laughing and leaned back against the couch. Neither of them talked about how at some point in her pillow pummeling, she'd wound up sitting close enough to him that his arms draped over the back of the couch could have draped over her shoulders. Though he decidedly didn't do that, and she wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not.