LONGEST CHAPTER TO DATE! WHOOP WHOOP! /throws confetti around/
Had to post this up a bit earlier this weekend! Won't be around Sunday. Nonetheless, got this out to you, half asleep might I add lol I'm impressed with myself that I was able to get this much word done, at 2 am, while half asleep.
Enjoy my sleep induced update! lol
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel
"Danger is very real but fear is a choice." A voice broke through their serious conversation as both turned towards the opened balcony door to see the woman they had come to visit, now standing there. Clint smiled at the younger woman, pulling his hands from Sky's face before stepping out of the woman's personal space.
"And there she is. How are you feeling?" Clint distracted her, while one of his hands reached out to tap Skylar's hand, silently informing her to speak before it got even more awkward.
"I am fine." She answered simply, her eyes quickly panning back to Skylar who was now standing there like a deer in the headlights. Clint looked over at Sky and inwardly sighed, knowing exactly how the woman was feeling. He had felt the same way when Loki took over his mind all those years ago. He was afraid Tasha was mad at him for such a long time. But in the end, he had been worried for nothing.
"Skylar came to see you." Clint broke the awkward silence that was brewing and gave Skylar a good shove. Having not expected it, she stumbled forward, barely stopping herself with a hand to the glass door before turning to glare at Clint.
"I'll wait in here while you two chat for a bit. Be good." Clint teased, nudging his head forward at Skylar who only glared harder, wanting nothing more than to drag him over the balcony.
"Oh. Alright. We can sit out here." Wanda quickly offered, stepping back onto the balcony before disappearing around the curtains.
"Go. You'll be fine." Clint whispered, waving his hand for Skylar to follow said woman.
"I hate you. You know that right?" She muttered back as he laughed and nodded.
"Hate me all you want, it's alright. Now go." He gestured with his head once more, plopping down on a comfortable chair sitting in the corner of Wanda's room. Skylar watched him in annoyance before sighing out in defeat, knowing she wouldn't be able to back out of this now. She took one more look at Clint before turning back to the balcony door. Mentally, she pushed herself forward, stepping out into the warm New York air and around the door to where Wanda was silently waiting for her on a pair of lounge chairs.
Seeing that there was nowhere else to sit, Skylar silently walked over, fidgeting as she quietly plopped down into the empty lounge chair.
"It's quite the view, is it not?" Wanda's voice pulled her from her inner thoughts as she blinked and looked over to see the woman staring off at the view of New York.
"New York has always had its own type of charm. Takes some time to get used to." Skylar agreed, surprised to have found her voice.
It grew quiet between the two for some time while it was beginning to slowly eat up Skylar, inside. She needed to apologize. She had to. She could never live with herself if she didn't apologize for what she did to Wanda. She'd never forgive herself or even begin to forgive herself if she didn't.
"I'm sorry Wanda." It came out suddenly that it had taken Skylar completely by surprise. She blinked a few times before realizing that she had actually said it out loud and stared in horror at the woman beside her. Wanda hadn't turned to her, or even acknowledge the fact that she had heard her apology. Was that a good or bad sign, she didn't know, but it was festering inside her to get it off her chest.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you Wanda. I never meant to hurt you or the others. Never." She added desperately, just wanting the woman to turn and yell at her. Anything. But not ignore her. That was the worst feeling in the world.
"These abilities…..I am still learning to control them and I hurt you all while doing that." She whispered as she lifted her hands to stare at them.
"When both my brother and I were still with Hydra, it took us both time and pain to get used to our abilities. I remember we both hurt each other, unintentionally while learning about them. It hurt but we never gave up and instead promised each other that we would learn and persevere beyond what they believed we were capable of." Wanda whispered, pulling her knees to her chest before resting her chin there.
Skylar felt terrible. No. Worse than terrible.
"But I do not hate or despise you for what you did." Wanda added, lifting her eyes to finally meet Skylar's surprised ones.
"I know how Hydra works. I know the lengths they go to in order to achieve what they want most. I know the pain that comes through those trials and those that still follow me today. It is not easy." She explained honestly, never moving her eyes from Skylar's.
"And I know, you would not intentionally hurt me or the others." She added softly as tears began to fill Sky's hazel orbs.
"How…how can you not hate me for what I did? What I made you see?" Skylar whispered through a shaky voice, wanting to know what was truly happening inside her friends head. Wanda wiped at the invisible tears and chuckled, albeit forcefully before looking back to the view.
"Because, though we aren't as close as the others, I can still see the kindness and care you put into the safety of the others. You are not the type of person to knowingly harm a person, no matter what the circumstances." Wanda went on to explain while Skylar continued to stare at the woman astonished.
How could this woman forgive her so easily?
"If you would like, I could possibly help you with it? With your telepathy and visions." Wanda awkwardly added, pointing to her head for emphasis while Skylar looked at her surprised.
"Help me?" Skylar squeaked out shocked causing Wanda to chuckle a bit and glance over at her.
"I'll accept your apology if you let me do just this much for you. I never had someone to teach me how to control or properly use my abilities till I met Vision, it might help, even just a bit." Wanda added with a kind smile.
How she deserved these sort of people, she would never understand. But she would not take them for granted.
Clint had left sometime after hearing their conversation, with a smile on his face. He knew, Wanda would be able to help Skylar as best as she could.
"Barton." Tasha greeted the archer as he climbed off the elevator and into the lab. Just that name alone, caught everyone's attention as said man had been specifically assigned to Skylar's personal babysitter while everyone else was down in the lab doing what they could. The announced man, waved simply at everyone before pulling up a seat beside Tasha to see that she had been typing away on some government site.
"Aren't you supposed to be upstairs?" Tasha rose a brow at her friend's easy persona.
"More specifically, watching Sky." Tony added back, on edge, while Cap glanced hard at the archer.
"Oh, calm down will ya? She's fine. She woke up and wanted to see Wanda so I took her downstairs. She's with Wanda and Vi's watching them both. She's fine." Clint reassured with large breath of air.
Steve's shoulders deflated a bit at the news, relief flooding his system Tasha rose her hand.
"Found something guys!" She called as she typed further into the computer while everyone quickly converged around her.
"Germany, two weeks ago. Look who we have." She pointed out a fuzzy image of a recognizable Collins standing beside a masked man.
"Who's the masked man?" Clint asked over Tasha's shoulder as she shrugged, enhancing the image a bit to see that the man was completely covered from head to toe in some type of armor, his masked painted with a white skull.
"Crossbones." Steve answered as he slapped a file he had been holding, down onto the empty space beside the laptop.
"He's been all over the net recently." Sam added as Nat began flipping through the file which held various news clippings of killings, robberies in high end laboratories.
"This guy seems to be searching for something? Has he found it?" Bruce inputted while Steve shook his head.
"Obviously not. Look at the building in the photo." He nudged his head for Nat to do just that. She clicked on the screen, typing away on her computer a bit more before chuckling in disbelief.
"Sorry, my German's a bit rusty." Tony pushed sarcastically.
"It's a German Center for Disease Control." Tasha added in a brief explanation.
"So this guy is obviously looking for something that isn't nice. Actually, the opposite of nice considering the nasty diseases the CDC has at their disposal." Bruce's voice took on a serious note while everyone else simply nodded in agreement.
"What do we do Cap?" Tasha asked away, her eyes quickly finding those of the man she was speaking to. Steve on the other hand, crossed his arms over his chest, his face contorting into a certain seriousness.
"I say, Sam, Nat and I go to Germany. See what we can dig up." Clint volunteered surprising everyone who had been silently waiting for the Cap's command. Clint shrugged instead, knowing by the look on Steve's face, that he wanted to go yet didn't want to leave Sky just yet.
"It's pretty obvious to everyone that Sky is your number one responsibility right now Cap, but we don't blame you. That's the way it should be. So let the 3 of us go in, see what we can dig up then report back. Piece of cake." Clint interrupted Steve once he noticed the man open his mouth, no doubt to disagree, but he really couldn't. Clint had caught him by the tongue.
The thought of leaving Sky behind, so soon, sent a ton of bricks clattering loudly into his stomach. He couldn't do it. He had no will power to do it, ever again. He had lost her once, and even at the safety of the planet, he would never do it again.
Steve sighed, in obvious defeat before hanging his head.
"Quick extraction of information, that's all." He commanded with authority to the trio who nodded in understanding.
"Nothing more. In and out. Communications at all times." Steve wanted to know everything that the trio found out from the second they landed in Germany.
"Cap. Most of us are biologically older than you. We've got this." Sam teased, patting the man on the shoulder.
"Plus, Sky needs you more than us right now. We've been through this thousands of times." Tasha pointed out playfully while Steve narrowed his eyes at her.
He could trust the 3, he knew that much.
"Alright. So what I need you to try is shut your eyes and concentrate first." Wanda instructed as the pair sat in the middle of Wanda's bed, their legs crossed under them.
"Concentrate." Sky repeated in a heavy breath as she slowly shut her eyes, letting her arms rest in her lap.
"Yes. Very good. Now I need you to clear your mind of everything. Everything and anything." She whispered this time, her eyes intently watching Sky's face just like Vision was doing from beside the bed.
"Easier said than done." She whispered back exasperated.
"Concentrate." Wanda both scolded and reminded as Sky shook out her hands, letting out a deep breath before collecting herself once more.
"Good." Wanda commented, peeking into Sky's mind briefly to see that Sky was pushing all other thoughts into the back of her mind.
"Now, I want to try something. I want you to think of something happy, a memory that you cherish, something that neither VI nor I know of and project that into our minds." Wanda then offered as Sky's eyes opened in surprise.
"Into your minds? You want me to project one of my memories into your heads?" She repeated hesitantly, knowing what had happened the last time she was in Wanda's head. The Sokovian nodded, reaching out to take the woman's hand in a silent show of comfort and confidence.
"It'll be fine, I promise. Vision would not let any harm come to either one of us. Trust me." Wanda reassured Sky who forcefully nodded, momentarily glancing at the AI who stared at her intently.
"Alright. If you say so." Sky muttered, a part of her completely against it but a bigger part of her wanting nothing more than to try it out.
Sky took one last breath before shutting her eyes and doing as she was instructed.
"Concentrate on that memory, keep a tight hold of it. Let it run through your mind a few times, keep hold of the emotion and the way it made you feel. Once you have complete control of the context of it, open your eyes and project it." Wanda continued to hold Sky's hands, easily feeling the hesitant way Sky was going about this. The woman's fear was so thick, you could cut it with a knife, easily, but she wanted to do just this simple thing for Skylar.
She hoped to help, even just a bit.
A few seconds later, when a memory she particularly cherished, rotated through her mind again, she slowly opened her now violet eyes and stared over at Wanda, feeling the way her memory slowly began to project itself straight into Wanda.
Clink. Clank. Crash.
"Shit!" A voice cursed loudly into the large empty space, only feeding the echo that continued on and on.
"Hello?" Another voice entered the frame as Sky slowly slid out from under Clint's newest toy, a personalized and lethal dune buggy that he recently brought back, basically hanging on its last life. Grease marks littering her face now joined by a growing bruise to her forehead, she slid out completely from under the machine, searching out the voice to find Steve staring down at her in amusement.
Sky in return, met his baby blues, her eyes taking a quick scan of his form to see that he had either just woke up or was coming up from the gym. She did love that man in his sweats. Blushing slightly, thanking any heavenly being that she was covered in grease, she cleared her throat and quickly sat up, realizing her current wardrobe, short torn jean shorts and a stained wife beater that showed off a lot of skin along with her bra underneath.
"Oh, it's you Sky. What are you doing up here so early?" Steve addressed, glancing away quickly when Sky turned and picked herself up off the ground, adjusting her shorts.
"Couldn't sleep so I figured I'd surprise Bird Boy and fix his new toy. Bastard can't seem to keep anything in one piece." She muttered the last part annoyed, kicking the back tire in frustration.
Steve silently watched as she maneuvered around the buggy and to the engine the back, wincing slightly before lifting a hand to rub her forehead. That's when he realized all the noises he had heard along with her cursing. She hurt herself.
"You're hurt." He took a step forward unconsciously, his eyes painted in concern.
Sky looked up surprised by his comment, blushing slightly at the look of concern the man was giving her before she turned back to the engine quickly.
"It's fine. I've had worse." She shrugged it off, not wanting to make a complete fool of herself, though if Tasha could see the easy way she was bending over for America's Golden Boy, that woman would never let her live it down. Oh how this man could make her do and say things she never intended to say or do.
Unfortunately for her, Steve wasn't the type to roll over and shrug anything that had to do with her, off. He moved quickly over to the hangers fridge, pulling out the coldest thing he could find, which ironically happened to be a bag of frozen strawberries and approached Sky. She had been ignoring the man, silently hoping the man would leave before she did or said anything to embarrass herself further, but nothing ever went her way. Before she could turn to see where he had gone, a hand shut around her upper arm before she was spinning, her rump finding the side of the buggy before a very cold sensation invaded her space. She gasped, both in surprise and pain, as a very icy feeling encased the growing bruise on her head. She reached up to push it away or even whack at it, but was met by that same hand that had grabbed her, now pushing her hand away.
"No, you need to ice it Sky. It's a pretty big bruise already." She wanted to complain, push him away and act like that tough girl she normally was, but the moment her eyes met his, she was at a lost for words.
How long had she been admiring this man?
Too long.
How long had just finally stepped up and realized, that in fact, she had feelings for this man?
Too long.
How long had she gone and ignored said feelings, brushing them off as infatuation, just like any other girl in the world?
Too long.
How long had she lied about what she truly felt?
How long had she lied to Tasha and spit out profanity after profanity whenever a topic on said man came up?
For too long.
Sky couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she realized she had feelings, beyond friendship, for said man, but now that she was standing within inches of him, she couldn't breathe. It was like all the air in the room got sucked out instantly as she was stuck, starving for air and floating. Was this was love felt like? She hadn't experienced love in such a long time but standing this close to a man, she 'might' feel that way for, she could practically hear her heart thumping loudly in her chest.
She didn't want to lie anymore. She didn't want to ignore those feelings anymore. She couldn't.
She couldn't ignore him anymore.
Steve was having his own inner battle and felt the way his skin heated up at the simple touch of pushing her hand away. He hadn't realized he took a step to stop her from pulling the bag away until his much larger frame was now towering over her much smaller one.
He knew how deadly she was, just like Romanoff, but he also knew how much of an opposite she was from the assassin and he couldn't help but think that's what attracted him to her. She reminded him of Peggy. From the very first moment he had met her in New York along with her cousin Tony, he knew right off the bat, she wasn't like any other woman he knew or had come across.
This woman, standing in front of him, was very strong. Strong in every sense of the word. Physically and mentally. She could take down a grown man within seconds and you wouldn't see her coming till she was hovering over you, with you on your back. It was quite impressive. But not only was she strong and talented, but she also carried her own charm and beauty, both of which was physical and mental as well.
Skylar had such a beautiful and large heart that Steve had found it hard to believe that she was blood relatives with an egotistical Tony Stark. Sure, Howard wasn't anything like his son, but Sky, she held such a large heart was anyone and everyone around her, especially those she cared about. He had seen it so many times on missions.
This is why he had fell so hard for this woman.
With no way out, he had fallen in love with her and found it impossible to approach. They held such a great friendship and that was one thing he did not want to jeopardize if he had grown the audacity to confess with the chance that she would be disgusted by that fact.
"You're staring Rogers." Her voice pulled him from his thoughts as he blinked his eyes a few times, meeting her hazel ones.
Sky wasn't even sure where she had found her voice since she still felt like she was suffocating, for the love of god he smells good, but she didn't want to make anything awkward and decided to pull her playful card in hopes that it would lighten the air just a bit.
Meeting her eyes did nothing for him, neither did her words, reminding him that he had been staring at her the entire time, looking like a fool.
Pull yourself together and get away from this man. Skylar's inner self was yelling at her to pull away and turn but no such luck.
Do something you idiot! This is your chance!Steve's inner self was screaming at him to grow some balls and do something, but he couldn't find the courage to do it. No. He couldn't.
"Ms. Stark." Jarvis's voice startled both occupants from their staring contest, enough split them just a few inches.
"Y-yes Jar?" She answered, clearing her throat as she picked up the dropped bag of frozen strawberries, horrified at the thoughts in her head.
"Ms. Romanoff would like me to remind you that you have training later this afternoon and that sleep is vital." Jarvis's voice took on a teasing tone causing Skylar to unconsciously snort at the message.
"Thanks Jar. Tell Tash I no longer need my mother hounding me to sleep." She playfully added back, tossing the bag onto the seat of the buggy behind her.
"Very good Ms. Stark." Jarvis answered before it was silent once more.
Steve peered away quickly when Skylar lifted her eyes to search out his, both clearing their throats and the awkward tension now floating between them.
"Well, that's my call Cap. The assassin is stalking me and insists I sleep. Good night." She awkwardly joked at her words, silently gagging when she realized it wasn't funny at all and slapped a hand to her face, mortified. She brushed past him quickly, wanting nothing more than the floor to swallow her up. But before the floor could contemplate her beg, the same warm hand from earlier, grabbed her arm once more and spun her.
She wanted to yell at him, tell him to stop grabbing her like she was a piece of meat but instead, she was met by surprise. Surprise and speechlessness. There was no way these soft and luscious things pressed against her lips were Steve's own.
Heart thundering in her chest, hands growing clammy, ears echoing, she blinked a few times before realizing with such happiness, that yes, Steve was indeed kissing her, awkwardly, yet that didn't matter to her.
And what did she do? She wasted no time and returned the gesture, with more enthusiasm than the man had originally thought as her arms quickly wrapped around his neck, pulling him even closer to her.
Steve was so caught off guard by her reaction to his spontaneous kiss, that the pair stumbled over themselves before Sky was all but pressed up and bent over the front of the buggy, one of Steve's arms the only thing having stopped them from completely folding into the compartment of chairs.
Sky was kissing him back.
Steve was kissing her. He initiated a kiss.
Both were ecstatic and inwardly squealing in happiness that such a thing was happening after so long.
Moments passed before both pulled away for much needed air, panting, and their lips millimeters from each other as they stared at one another.
"What was that for?" She whispered out of breath, her hazel eyes unable to pull away from his baby blues.
"For being you. I…..I like you, Skylar Stark." Steve stumbled over his words a bit, more embarrassed then anything. When was the last time he confessed to a girl, or kissed one for that matter? A long time.
Skylar blinked up at him in surprise, her heart throbbing in her chest while her hands unconsciously gripped at the collar of his shirt.
"You….you like me?" Her voice no longer carried that confident demeanor and instead showcased her vulnerable side.
Steve easily picked up on it and smiled softly down at her, pulling her to stand straight up so that he could use his now free hand to caress her cheek.
"For quite some time." He confessed as his warm hand encased her cheek.
"I know I'm going at this all wrong and my mother would rise from the dead to scold me for it, if she could, but I couldn't stop myself any longer." He whispered this time, his eyes seeming to get lost in her own while her orbs searched out his for any hidden lie she could find.
But she found none. Why was she not surprised? This was Captain America for god sake. For as long as she knew the man, she knew she could trust him and have complete faith in him on missions. Why was this any different?
She stared at him for a bit longer, slowly beginning to notice the worried and hesitant expression that was beginning to take over his smile and felt her heart crumble. She didn't want to see that look on his face, not ever.
She wasted no time and instead stood on her tippy toes to push her lips back against his. She wanted him to know how she felt about it also.
"I like you too Rogers." She whispered against his lips, pushing away that hesitation and horror that was building in his gut before he pushed his lips back against hers. Steve's arms tightened around her waist in such happiness at her words, that the pair hadn't noticed the sound of approaching footsteps till it was too late.
"Woah! Seriously!?" A voice screeching, sending the pair stumbling apart before meeting the shocked and pissed look of, no other than, Tony himself.
Slowly, tears fell from her eyes before her violet eyes carefully melted back into hazels. Both Wanda and Vision, silently sat there, glancing at one another in surprise before turning back to the woman that was viciously wiping at her cheeks.
"Sorry about that. I'm not usually one to get sappy." She laughed uncomfortably before Vision took the cue to give the women some privacy.
"It's alright. That's no reason to apologize at all. It was quite a happy memory." Wanda reassured the woman that had now resorted to using her sleeves to wipe at her cheeks.
"I know it's not, it's just….." Skylar whispered, sniffling as she peered down at her hands.
"Ever since I've returned home, it seems like, the relationship I once had with Steve is nothing like in the past." She whispered hesitantly, looking up at Wanda. Wanda stared at the woman for a moment before softly smiling, reaching a hand out once more to hold Skylar's.
"It may not be the same but that doesn't mean that it can't be the same. A lot of things have happened between the two of you, but yet, the way you feel for each other hasn't changed. It's obvious to everyone. Captain Rogers still loves you, undyingly and it is no guess that you also feel the same way." She started before chuckling.
"How much I wish I had what you have with the Captain. You are very blessed to have someone that cares for you as much as he does." Wanda added, though Skylar could see the uncomfortable twitch of Wanda's eyebrow.
Realizing that the topic had suddenly taken an emotion turn, she smiled back as best as she could and nodded.
"How did I do?" She wanted to quickly change the subject while Wanda smiled, thankfully and nodded.
"You are quite skilled and talented. It seems to me that you can easily manipulate the mind at your beckon. If you'd like, we could try this as often as you want, just to help you relax and train a bit. Vision can also help with anything you need." Wanda thankfully kept on the ball, keeping the subject away from Skylar's earlier blunder.
"I'd like that, very much. Thank you Wanda."
So, how was it? Hope it was alright. I wrote this half asleep lol Sorry about the grammar mistakes and anything else you may run across. I wasn't sure when I was going to be able to update this week and didn't want you all to wait. If I have a chance, I'll run through it again and edit any mistakes.
Until next week!