Alex didn't mind the walk through new York, though the night was chilly, she was kept warm by Bruce's body heat, as he guided her through the familiar maze of New York City streets. She did start getting confused after they passed thirteen bistros, each one more quint and date-worthy than the next. It wasn't until after Bruce pulled her through the entrance of a building whose neon was half out that she thought to question where he was taking her, and it wasn't anything like what she had expected.
The lanes were well kept, and the carpets cleaned, a stark contrast to the somewhat dilapidated exterior. And as they walked in, the fluorescent overhead lights went off, and were replaced by black lights and moving strobe lights. "You tricked me! You said we were going to dinner! Not bowling!" Alex said trying to sound outraged but unable to keep a smile off of her face.
"I know, but I figured since I missed our first dinner date that I should make it up to you by making this one a little bit more fun." Bruce said, an identical smile on his face.
Alex playfully shoved him, "Let me know next time. I feel like those kids who go bowling after prom." She said looking down at her nice suede boots and tunic dress.
"Hey, that was part of the plan. Isn't prom supposed to be the most magical night of high school anyway?"
"No, my prom was terrible, we had to take cover in the basement because of tornadoes." Alex asked, scanning the thin crowd to see if there was a restaurant tucked into one of the corners.
"Well, let's make this better than prom night." Bruce aid, leading her over to the shoe and ball rental station. "Two please, for a single lane."
"Shoe sizes?" The attendant asked in a bored voice after taking Bruce's cash for the games.
"Men's ten, and" he trailed off and looked to Alex.
"Women's size 7" Alex supplied to him.
The attendant gave them their shoes and pointed to their lane and the rack where they could pick out their bowling balls. Meanwhile, everything glowed, excepting them, as they were both in darker colors.
They each picked up their shoes and headed to the lane to change into the rented bowling shoes. "I really hope they clean these." Alex said as a passing remark as they sat down.
"They do, I used to work at one when I was in high school. They clean them thoroughly." Bruce said as he undid the laces on the bowling shoes, barely fitting in the glowing white plastic chair that was in front of their electronic scoreboard.
Alex smiled and started tugging off her boots as she sat in the adjacent chair. She also noticed Bruce's suppressed laughter as he saw her socks, a mismatched and threadbare pair, one being neon pink and the other a light blue with white stars. They both shone bright in comparison to her navy tunic and brown leggings.
"What's so funny Bruce?" Alex asked as she tugged on her bowling shoes.
"Nothing really, it's just, you're always so business-like. Tony's been complaining about how you have little to no humor unless he involves you in a prank war, and when I first met you, you were busy bitching out Fury. You singlehandedly stopped the Chitauri the other day. You're nothing but serious, but at the same time you're wearing neon socks and are willing to go bowling and your only complaint is that they might not clean the shoes. Just when I think I have you figured out, you have a new surprise. It's refreshing."
Alex nodded and shoved her feet into her shoes. "People are full of surprises. I found out about yours just the other day." The offhand comment was meant more for her to gauge his reaction than anything, and sure enough he tensed a bit before relaxing and letting a small smile cross his face.
Bruce held up his hands with a small smile of defeat. "You make an excellent point. Let's call us even and bowl a couple of rounds. I might even let you win."
"You're on." Alex said, her face lighting up with a smile as she picked up one of the lighter balls, weighing eleven pounds. After selecting it in a light blue she looked around to see where Bruce had wandered off. He had selected a ball and was talking to the attendant at the counter. After moment the attendant shook his head and Bruce walked back to her.
"Everything going okay? They didn't give someone else our lane, did they?" Alex asked worriedly.
Bruce shook his head no, a few strands falling across his forehead, "No, nothing like that. I was just seeing if they had any heavier balls out here."
Alex nodded, and they went to enter their names into the machine, Alex gestured for Bruce to go first.
"No, no ladies first," Bruce insisted, ever the gentleman even in situations like this.
And so the letters popped up on the outdated screens, the letter A atop the letter B, followed by spaces for the eighteen frames for the first game.
Bruce watched as Alex stepped up to bowl, her form a little off for anyone trying to bowl. It wasn't very surprising that her ball rolled straight into the gutter, leaving her to look disappointed at the lane.
'Better go easy on her, looks like she's not the type to bowl all that often.' He said, snickering as Alex retrieved her ball from the ball return and lined up to try again. This time her ball stayed a bit closer to her original course, straying to the far left of the lane, allowing it to knock down two pins. Bruce saw her smile and stick her arms up in the air like she had just made a strike. He knew he had to go easy on her now.
He picked up his blue ball from its spot at the ball return and lined up. When it came time to actually bowl, however, he threw it, making sure he only knocked down a couple of corner pins for that frame. "Looks like we're both a little rusty."
"Actually, this is my first time bowling," Alex said with a shrug as she picked up her ball again. Bruce watched as she lined up again, and threw the ball, curving it to the right again. It did hit knock down half the pins this time though, and Bruce decided he could definitely get used to this girls smile. Her second ball wasn't quite as successful, however, as it sailed to the right where the missing pins had been.
The next few frames continued in the same fashion, with Alex getting slightly better, then worse, and Bruce throwing his attempts so she would feel better, and the lights continued to spin and glow around them.
"Hey, Bruce." Alex called on the final frame, their scores both averaging in the 60s (Bruce's was a bit higher, but Alex didn't seem to mind too much) looking over her shoulder as she leaned against the ball return. "Can I try bowling with your ball?"
Bruce nodded, "If you want to," he said with a shrug, listening as He laughed at the question of this tiny little computer hacker. They both watched as Alex reached down to grab his ball and lifted it a few inches above the return before setting it back down and shaking her head.
"Never mind. Little too heavy for me." Alex said, moving to grab her own ball. She lined up and ran to throw the ball, but slipped as she released, falling onto her side as the ball went straight down the aisle and knocked down all 10 pins.
Bruce ran to her side and crouched down next to her. "Alex, are you okay?" He noticed her shaking, and turned her so she was lying on her back, and he saw that she was laughing.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just, tell me, did I manage to knock down any pins?" She asked, turning to face him and sitting up.
Bruce shook his head and smiled, standing and offering his hand out to help her up, she took it as he said, "See for yourself."
Alex turned, her hand still in his grasp and let out a happy scream, the sound startling Bruce a little since he wasn't expecting it. "I got a strike! My first one!" She hugged him and stood up on her tiptoes, kissing Bruce. He was a bit stunned, but kissed back, keeping it short and chaste despite her enthusiasm.
Alex blushed as he pulled away and Bruce couldn't help but smile. "Let me finish bowling and we can find somewhere to eat, I'm sure you're starving after all this." He pulled his ball out of the ball return and lined up to bowl his final frame. With a small smile he let it fly, getting his first strike of the game with ease.
"You have got to be shitting me. You threw your game for me." Alex's angry voice softened as she continued, and she still had a wide smile plastered on her face. "You thoughtful asshole."
"I'm pretty sure the last part is an oxymoron." Bruce said as he sat next to her and they put on their normal footwear, trying not to smile as he saw her brightly colored socks disappear into her boots.
"It isn't, because to really be an asshole, you have to think of the right way to be an asshole. It takes no effort to be nice, it's easy to compliment, but to insult is really an art. Like-" Alex was cut off by Bruce putting a single finger over her lips.
"Alex, I get what you're saying, but you're rambling just a bit, and it's adorable, but it's time to let this drop and go get some food. Okay?"
Alex blushed a bit, hoping Bruce wouldn't notice in the black light, and nodded. "Yeah, let's go do that."
Bruce smiled, and led her out into the New York streets. Now was the time to take her to the bistro, but first for some fun. "So, you said IHOP, right?"
"No, I said no IHOP. I fucking hate IHOP." Alex said, muttering the last sentence to herself. Even as he looked down he saw a small, frustrated pout begin to form, and he smiled.
"I know, I was only kidding. I think it's about time I took you to the finest family run bistro in New York City." Bruce aid as he put his arm around her shoulder, hoping that it would brighten up Alex's mood.
"I think I'd like that." She said, with a small smile.
It was after their meal when they finally started talking, a conversation welling up naturally out of the events of the night. They were wandering the brightly lit streets of New York City, taking in the native atmosphere as town cars and taxis fought for dominance in the ever-busy traffic and bicyclists and pedestrians made use of the empty spaces between the traffic jams. It was chaos at its height, and it provided the perfect cover to create a normal night for the young couple.
"So tell me, how did you get into computers?" Bruce asked, his mouth dangerously close to her ear as they walked through the streets.
Alex shrugged. "My brother ended up working in a computer repair shop when he was in high school, he was 4 years older than I was, so I ended up staying there with him after school. The old man who ran the place knew a lot and I picked up on it naturally."
"So how did that translate into a job in Homeland Security?" He asked after a few moments of silence.
"It was my senior year at MIT, right before graduation. I was getting ready to graduate with a double major in Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering. I had a job lined up to design computers and software, and my brother, he was so proud. So were my parents, but the day after graduation they died in a wreck. We were all four headed to get dinner, I was in the car ahead of them leading them to a local restaurant, and a drunk driver, and a classmate who was too fucked up from celebrating hit them. My parents survived, but Jules didn't." Her voice got quiet as she continued. "So I kept my job, but started doing research on the back end. Jules always told me to be careful with what I knew. I had dabbled in hacking, and I knew the languages and old workarounds to be able to hack just about anything, so I started poking my nose around large companies, exposing their secrets anonymously, and it felt good. It wasn't long before I did the same with the government. But the government was prepared for me. Despite my best efforts they found me, and gave me two options, work for them or go to jail. So I've spent the last 5 years bouncing from department to department. Always the black sheep, but it hasn't all been bad. I now have dirt on every major US military institution, governmental department, and most UN states. "
"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Bruce said almost absentmindedly.
"Don't worry, it takes a lot to get there." She hesitated before continuing on "What about you? You know my story, what's yours?" She looked up to him, curious and Bruce sighed.
"It's a long story, and not one meant for tonight. Maybe another time."
She nodded, not looking willing to drop it, but in the end she nodded. "Okay, but understand, I'll hold you to that promise. I can be patient."
Bruce let out a small sigh of relief. 'You know you'll have to tell her eventually' He said, a sinister whisper in the back of Bruce's mind. Bruce shook his head, trying to shake that thought, even though he knew it to be true, there were times to be depressed, but he knew this wasn't one of them. For now, he decided to enjoy what little of the night they had left together.
It was late by the time Bruce returned Alex to her rooms. New York was truly the city that never sleeps, and by the time they returned, they had talked about numerous subjects. From art to music to politics, though they avoided their pasts and families, as well as their jobs. Sensitive subjects had no place in a first date.
It wasn't until after Bruce had left her just inside her front door, with a slow, sweet and gentle good night kiss that Alex took the time to look at herself in the mirror. What she saw was a happier, healthier her. Though she realized that something was still off. It took hours of looking and thinking until she realized that a new chapter in her life was starting, and Bruce had set it in motion. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair and smiled. It was time for a new redesign.
Author's Note: So, this is a week late. So sorry, real life and writer's block hit me with a ton of bricks. Anywho, that's not a good excuse, so here's a longer than usual chapter for you. Hope you enjoy it, I know I enjoyed writing it. Still the plan to do weekly Wednesday updates, and I have a place to go from here, so that's good. I might be rambling a bit, but it's 12:30 and I've ben up since 8 yesterday. So, time to answer some reviews and get this show on the road.
The Red Dove: I did get her permission! We're doing an ever so sly collaboration for a while, because our words just kind of work together. So any time you see references to Nightmare/After The Fall over here it's with permission, as is any mention of Alex in Nightmare.
YokoshimaMitsukai88: OHMYGOSHIDON'TKNOWHOWTOSAYILOVEYOUENOUGHF ORTHIS. Sorry everyone for having to try and read this, but she's my muse, my writing buddy. So yeah, thank you girl! I'm not giving up, or slowing down (okay maybe slowing down a little but I'm picking up the pace). Now back to my regularly scheduled Slendy watching (I got through 20 videos while finishing this chapter) and writing.
Xxyangxx2006: Sometimes it is (like this past week) but a lot of the times it isn't. So here is a lovely new chapter and their date and I hope you (and everyone else) enjoys it.
TheMagentaColor: Thank you so much for the love and the review. I promise the next update will be sooner.
Also, one last little edit (morning after noticings) I did edit and upload this chapter around 1:30 last night so the Review section did have a couple of errors. Hopefully those are all fixed now. Sorry for the confusion!