By the time Ashley had finally woken up, it was around two in the afternoon. She could hear Pepper in the distance, on what sounded like a very heated phone call that Ashley didn't want to interrupt, so she lay in bed and stared at the ceiling above her instead. The night / early morning before was just bizarre - the fact that she had woken up to wet sheets, gone to wash them and ended up witnessing Captain America all sweaty and topless was something she never saw coming. It felt like the crappy storyline of an inappropriate video or something - and as much as she didn't mind that, she also knew there wasn't a chance in hell of anything happening between them. Steve was timid, slow paced and clearly a wonderful gentleman - far from both what Ashley knew and was used to. The guys back at the school were either extremely weary of her, or they just wanted to have her on their belt. Either way, it wasn't the kind of masculine energy she wanted around her.
She took a few calming breaths in and out before heaving herself out of bed and padding across the soft carpet into the shower, ruffling out her long deep red curls. Within ten minutes she had showered, brushed her teeth, moisturised her skin and slipped on a brand new outfit - this time a pair of black tracksuit bottoms paired with a white linen tank top. The tracksuit bottoms were a little baggy on her and therefore did absolutely nothing for her figure, which she hated. There wasn't a single nod to the curves that she was so proud of.
Regardless, it wasn't like anyone was checking for her right now.
Ashley slid her bedroom door open and slipped through, making her way down the hallway into the living room. There on the sofa sat Pepper, irritably hanging up on the phone call. She was also wearing a casual black tracksuit today, her hair was in a messy ponytail and she had no makeup on whatsoever. She still looked lovely - just fed up.
Her metallic blue eyes flickered up at the sound of someone walking in. Once she saw that it was Ashley, she gave her a wave. "Good morning, you," she smirked, before refocussing her attention to her laptop.
"Good morning, Pepper," Ashley responded with a bubbly smile, "how you doing?"
"I'm good, you? Sleep well?" Pepper asked casually. Ashley nodded slowly.
"Yeah…very well, thanks. Quite hungry now though and I really fancy a carbonara," she frowned to herself, making her way into the kitchen so that she could have a little nosy around.
"Oooh sounds divine, the ingredients should be there if you need them! But if Tony hears you mention pasta he'll come running - that is an official warning," Pepper smirked with both eyebrows risen.
"Of course he will," Ashley giggled back at her across the room. "I can make enough for our floor if you fancy some? Cooking is kinda my speciality-"
"Oooh Ashley, if there's one thing you'll learn about me, it's that I'll never turn down a creamy pasta dish," Pepper sighed dramatically. Ashley giggled as she began sieving through the pots and pans in the drawers.
Then she decided to bring up something else.
"Pepper…could you tell me about Steve?" she asked loudly over the metal clanging. Pepper's head shot up with immediate effect at the mention of the handsome cavalier's name, looking dead at Ashley to try and read her expression.
"I'm sorry?" she finally spluttered. Ashley flushed as she busied herself by tipping the pasta into a deep dish and sliding the pan onto the stove without looking up. "Did…did you just ask about Steve? As in Steve Rogers, Steve? Steve, Steve?"
"Pepper," Ashley groaned at the apparent shock lingering in her voice, "it's not anything suggestive. I just spent some time with him last night and-" That's all Pepper needed to hear - she leapt up from the sofa with haste, almost dropping her laptop in the process. Ashley bit back a smile as she watched her skid across the heated floors over to the kitchen where she was standing.
"Wait, you did what?!" she yelped whilst slamming her hands on the granite kitchen counter tops. "Ashley you've been here for two days! You've already slept with St-"
"Woah there, I did NOT sleep with Steve!" Ashley hushed her, clamping a hand over her mouth before Tony overheard and spread it all over the tower. Pepper's wide eyes began to relax once she realised it wasn't like that.
"Oh. You said you spent the night!" Pepper mumbled with a muffled frown from beneath Ashley's palm. Ashley slowly moved her hand away before turning back to the boiling pasta again.
"Yeah, with him, not on him," she corrected her slowly.
"With him doing what? Didn't you go to bed early yesterday?" Pepper blinked, leaning against the fridge. Then her eyes grew wide once more. "Unless! You totally went to bed and he met you later on when we all fell asleep and-"
"No, Pepper - I slept! I saw him afterwards, dude," Ashley hushed her again. But Pepper didn't look convinced. "You can literally check the CCTV that your boyfriend no doubt has installed in the laundry room. Fast forward it to about 5am - you'll see."
"Ah, ya caught him doing his early morning workouts huh?" Pepper suddenly raised an eyebrow with a knowing grin. "Clothes on or clothes on?"
"Clothes on…then clothes off," Ashley hummed innocently as she watched Pepper's face fade from one of amusement to one of bewilderment.
"Alright, you gotta explain what happened, now," she ordered her loudly. Ashley bit back her laughter, finding Pepper's interest both amusing and rather sweet, given that she still technically didn't know her that well.
"Happy to do so, but I need you to do something for me first," Ashley began slowly.
"Anything!" Pepper exclaimed. Ashley nudged her head towards the refrigerator door with a small smirk.
"Eggs, milk and cheese please!"
…
Around half an hour had passed. Both Pepper and Ashley were at the kitchen stove as they continued to chat away like old friends. Ashley was stirring the thick creamy carbonara sauce in the smaller saucepan, adding dashes of salt, pepper and herbs to taste - whilst Pepper was in charge of the penne pasta boiling in salted water in a bigger pot. The tasty smell was already wafting through the air, no doubt drifting through the vents to the other floors in the building. "So you managed to see Steve without a top on for an entire conversation and you're telling me you didn't fall straight in love with him?" Pepper was asking, unable to shake the story from her mind even after Ashley had explained it piece by piece.
"Correct," Ashley confirmed with a confident nod. "Like, he's beyond beautiful and he's incredibly lovely but honestly Pepper, he's so innocent. Too innocent, in fact."
"Oh you have no idea," Pepper hummed knowingly, understanding how Steve was when it came to women.
He was strong in every other sense, but the ladies? Clueless.
"Why is that, though? There isn't a girl in the world that wouldn't be glad to have him," Ashley whispered. Pepper went to drain the pasta water in the sink whilst letting out a small chuckle.
"You have to remember, Ashley, Steve lived in the 40s before he came outta the ice. Things were a lot different back then," she reminded her.
"Oh god - you're so right. That's why he's so polite - it makes sense," Ashley nodded fairly as she turned off the fire. "But I'm not used to that kinda guy, you know? The ones I deal with tend to move too fast anyway, so I just stay single."
"You might have to stay single for a while regardless - I heard that Steve was in love when he went under the ice," Pepper recalled with a frown. Ashley spun around on her heel with a scoff, not expecting those words.
"With whom?"
"Some lady, I can't remember her name, I didn't really care too much," Pepper responded with an apologetic look in her eyes. "But that was, as I said, before the ice."
"Which was a good seventy-odd years ago, yes?" Ashley hummed, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"Yes," Pepper winced, "the poor woman is old now. So you know, there's not much competition."
"Does Steve actually know that? Like, is she even still alive?" Ashley shuddered at the thought of Steve making a move on an elderly woman, feeling flat out sick to her stomach. It wasn't even jealousy that she was registering…it was just odd.
"Even if she's not alive, Steve's love for her probably is," Pepper pulled a face as she emptied the pasta into the creamy carbonara sauce.
"Damn. This isn't the first time I've been in competition with a dead woman, either," Ashley muttered through gritted teeth, stirring the dish with a wooden spoon. Pepper bit back her laughter, sensing true irritation in her words, when they were suddenly interrupted by Stark exiting the lift with Banner and Fury on either side of him. Bruce was dressed like a sweet little grandfather today in his deep purple knitted jumper and his dark brown corduroy trousers, whilst Tony looked like the teenager he always did in the jeans and ACDC top. Fury meanwhile was dressed in his usual uniform of a black turtleneck jumper, his black trousers and long black vampire like leather jacket.
"Whaaaat? I smell pasta!" Tony sang as soon as the elevator door slid open. He made an excitable beeline for the pot on the stove, those deep mahogany eyes going wide once he saw the contents. "I'm sorry, who do I have to bow down and worship for such a meal?" he breathed, whilst Fury and Bruce walked over to see the food as well.
"It was a team effort, you'll be pleased to know," Ashley smiled at him, hearing Pepper pull out plates from one of the cupboards.
"You mean Miss Potts actually made this? And nothing…nothing burned down? The tower is, in fact - still in tact?" Tony gasped, bracing himself for Pepper to slap his arm irritably - which she did. Ashley rolled her eyes and turned to Bruce and Fury instead.
"Would you two like a plate as well?" she offered up with a dazzling smile, turning into the hostess that she was trained to be by her mother.
"Oh, I'd honestly love one, thanks," Bruce accepted humbly, ducking his head a little. "It smells awesome, Ashley - and I haven't eaten all day."
"Extra large for the extra large, coming up," Ashley giggled with a click of the fingers, making Bruce smile. "Director Fury? Are you hungry?"
"Me? Well, I'm actually here to talk to you about a proposition, Ashley," Fury declined politely, crossing his arms and lifting this chin. "…saying that, I will gladly take some in a Tupperware if there's one going."
"Of course, one takeaway coming right up," Pepper confirmed over the sound of clanging china plates.
"You're gonna need one to go too, Ashley - we're going on the road," Fury broke the news directly to her, leading Tony to eavesdrop shamelessly from where he stood close by. Ashley's entire body ran cold and she began chewing on the inside of her cheeks, riddled with sudden anxiety.
"What do you mean?" she rushed out in a panic. "What's happening?"
"Got a mission brief for you, and we're gonna need you in as soon as possible," Fury muttered under his breath, trying to be as discreet as he could. But whilst being around Tony Stark - it just wasn't possible.
"You got a mission for her already? Wow Fury, you don't waste time huh?" he piped up as he took the plate of steaming carbonara from Pepper with a brief smile.
"Ashley, if you can come onto the jet awaiting takeoff at the helicarrier base then we can explain to you what we need you to do," Fury pushed forward loudly, ignoring Stark's comments.
"I just….why do you think….you know, that I'm the best person for the job?" Ashley stuttered.
"Because these people in particular have a friend of your sister's, and one of our own," Fury broke it down to her slowly. Ashley's heart sunk - one of Christie's friends in trouble? How could she reject a mission to save one of her sister's own? Surely she owed her that much?
Ashley gave Fury a stiff nod before scurrying off to her bedroom to grab her jacket and shoes, whilst he took the Tupperware from Pepper and made his way back into the lift.
"Her sister?" Bruce murmured to Tony, who was already frowning at those exact same words.
"Yeah I noticed that too," Tony muttered back, grabbing a fork from the countertop. "Clearly her sister also works for S.H.I.E.L.D which would explain wherever the hell Fury picked her up from."
"Oh don't go snooping, Tony," Pepper hissed to him in blatant irritation, "it's not nice! You can just ask her who her sister is when she comes back, I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you."
"Would you appreciate being quizzed on your family history by people you've only known for two days?" Tony challenged her, before chomping down a massive forkful of carbonara.
"No, but I also wouldn't want someone breaking an encryption on some hi-tech files just to get to that same information," Pepper hissed back in annoyance. She was being totally serious about it as well - Tony could see it in her face.
"You make a good point Pepper," Bruce frowned as he tucked in to his dinner, "but more importantly, this carbonara is damn near perfection."
…
Ashley's knee was jerking up and down as she sat on the jet taking her to the mission site destination, with Coulson sat opposite her. He observed her chewing on the inside of her cheek and tracing swirly patterns on the palm of her hands with her index finger over and over and over again. "Does that actually work?" he spoke up suddenly, consequently making Ashley jump at the sound of his voice.
"H-huh?"
"The whole drawing patterns thing…does that actually work?" Coulson asked again, nudging his head towards her hands. Ashley stared at her hands for a second before raising her eyes to answer,
"No, n-not really."
"You and Christie…" Coulson began slowly, watching Ashley's jaw tense at the mention of her sister's name. He couldn't tell if that was a good or bad reaction, so he was a little hesitant to continue.
"…yes?" Ashley prompted him after a few silent seconds.
"You're pretty alike, you know." She scoffed at his words and crossed her arms defiantly, staring at the floor beneath her feet.
"No. We're nothing alike in the slightest…at all, in fact," she murmured in annoyance, "I wish I could be half as confident and badass as she is."
"Yeah, well Christie's level of confidence and badass-ery comes with time," Coulson hummed casually. "But even now, you're doing all the things she'd do before hearing a mission brief. She still freaks out like this, you know?"
"Oh yeah right," Ashley scoffed back, crossing her arms and staring her out.
"No, she really does. She also hates all this pre packaged conversation beforehand - I guess it makes her uneasy. She usually prefers for things to be pretty straightforward, to the point, all that kinda stuff. The roundabout conversations annoy the hell out of her, but I do em anyway because there's nothing more entertaining than an irritable Christie Darmer," Coulson admitted her with a small smirk. Ashley arched an eyebrow in wonder.
"I gotta say, I completely understand why she hates them," she lightly chuckled back, managing to push past the anxiety attack that was creeping up on her bit by bit. She sat up straighter and cleared her throat .
She wanted to be apart of this group so badly, and wimping out on the first mission was not the way to prove she could be.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We're sending you to a secluded base of an organisation that we think belongs to HYDRA, despite them being quote-on-quote 'dismantled'," Coulson began, taking out his infamous holographic disk and projecting the mapped layout of the base into the air. Ashley clenched her jaw, unsure of what HYDRA even was, but nodded for him to continue regardless. "They have somehow kidnapped one of ours, and we need you to get her back. She's extremely valuable to us."
"How the hell did they get her in the first place?" Ashley frowned, seeing the picture of a sweet straight fiery ginger-haired young woman pop up in front of her. She had freckles all over her face and her eyes had a little twinkle to them.
"We have no idea, all we know is that we received a distress signal from her just before she was taken in and, after tracking her location, that's where she was," Coulson replied with a sigh.
"I see. I gotta say, she is adorable," Ashley hummed, spinning the hologram around to see her in 4D.
"She's one of Christie's best friends. She was one of the two girls that she brought down from Asgard in 2012," Coulson informed her. Ashley nibbled on her bottom lip and sighed out through her nose.
"Yeah, so I've been told. What's her name?"
"Renesme."
"Got it. B-but one last thing Coulson, I know that she's a friend of my sister's and I'm guessing Christie's unavailable but, other than that…why…why have you chosen me?"
"Because Ashley," Coulson sighed, projecting a new image over to her, "this HYDRA base in particular…is underwater."
…
a/n: that one is a little nod to all my Assassin in Asgard readers…but don't worry if you haven't read it! It'll all make sense regardless!