Hi hi! Here it is, your promised fluffy filler chapter! I hope you all like it! Super excited to get into Winter Soilder after this! Who's excited for from Badass Bucky Barnes action!? Whooo! Ok, here's your disclaimer that I own nothing Marvel and now you can get moving along! Enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Tessa had spent the following weeks locked up in her apartment. She had been ignoring calls from Fury. She turned down Tony on his offer to fly them to some private Caribbean island for a getaway. The truth was, she didn't want to see anyone. She didn't want to do anything. She had fallen into a pit of despair, as for once, she finally just let herself grieve something. So, she sat in her apartment, grieving the family that had found and lost all too quickly. She was currently laying, sprawled out on her couch, eating ice cream from the carton, while watching a news broadcast that was covering the event that happened in Greenwich.
"…The damages made to the university in the attack that occurred here not even three months ago have surpassed an estimated two million pounds." The male reported had been saying, standing in front of the construction zone where they were rebuilding the area damaged. "This has left people wondering, just who it is that should be footing the bill. The British Parliament have been thus far unwilling to release any sort of emergency funding, claiming that the circumstances do not fall under the definitions of a foreign attack, and therefore do not qualify for government aid. This has spouted an intense social debate, as many people have gone to social media platforms to express their frustrations."
The image then switched to a younger female, whose title under her name indicated that she a student of the University of Greenwich. "It's not fair." The girl began. "The university is now threatening to increase rates of tuition and I just don't think that the students should have to be punished for something we had no part in."
Shaky footage of the battle began to come across the screen. It seemed that someone had been recording from a window as Thor and Tessa stood off against Malekith when he first stepped foot onto Midgardian soil. "There have been expressions that have been growing in popularity that the people who have been sent into these situations should operate under specialized organizations whose insurances can help take on the brunt of the financial burden. The two individuals involved in thwarting this attack had also been seen in the attack at New York City as well. The woman, who has only recently been identified as Rose Abigail Rogers, the sister of American legend Captain Steven Rogers, who was previously thought dead, was seen at the attack, causing damages to the structures here." She watched herself on the screen lift Malekith off the ground before he was sent soaring through the air towards where the camera was filming. As he smashed into the column, in front of the window, screams of panic filled the TV, and the image cut away as everyone had begun running away.
The reporter came back into view as the sounds of screaming were cut off. "Many are speculating on just who gives authorization for these enhanced individuals to operate in foreign countries. There has been growing concern for changes in archaic laws as-"
The TV suddenly cut off to black and Tessa turned her head to find Steve standing on the other side of the living room, the remote in his hand. "Hey! I was watching that!" she exclaimed, motioning towards the TV with her spoon.
"Yeah, and now you're not. Come on, get dressed. We're going out." Steve told her.
"What? No. I don't want to." Tessa said, sticking her spoon back into the carton and pulling out a large chunk of ice cream before shoving it into her mouth.
"Rose, you've been moping around for weeks. Hell, when's the last time you even changed your clothes?" he asked her, throwing his hand out in her direction.
Tessa looked down at her tattered She-Ra shirt before looking back up at Steve. "I'm depressed Steve!" she defended with a mouth full of ice cream.
Steve's eyebrows dropped down as he came closer. "Look, I couldn't ever understand what you must be feeling, but this," he said, motioning around her entire body. "This isn't healthy. You've got to start moving on with your life. You have to get back out in the world."
Tessa rolled her eyes at him. "Since when are you the one worrying about my health?" she asked redundantly.
Steve just gave her a pointed look. Tessa dropped her spoon back into the now empty carton with a deep sigh. "Fine. Where are you trying to get me to go?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't relent.
"I want to take you for a ride." He told her, talking about the classic motorcycle she had gifted him before everything went to hell in Asgard.
"Well, that's not something you should ever say to your sister." Tessa commented under her breath, transporting herself into the kitchen to drop the carton in the trash and the spoon in the sink.
After Steve realized what she had implied his face scrunched up in disgust. "Oh God! Rose! That's not-" he began protesting as she turned and smiled over at him in amusement. "Would you just go put some clothes on!"
"Still not helping your case, Steven." She told him with a smirk before transporting herself into her room. She came back out five minutes later in a pair of Jeans and a baggy AC/DC t-shirt. She was pulling a baseball cap with the Stark Industries logo on it over her head, trying to hide as much of her unnaturally white hair as possible. She looked up at him grumpily once she had the hat secured. "I'm only going if you promise to swing by that good Chinese place and buy me dinner after." She told him.
"I can do that, now come on." He told her, grabbing his jacket off the wall hooks and heading towards the door. Tessa begrudgingly followed him out of the security of the apartment and down to where his bike was stored. Once he had it pulled out of the small garage, he swung his leg over it and kicked down on the ignition, bringing the engine roaring to life. Tessa let out a huff before walking up to the bike and swinging her own leg over the seat. She sat down behind Steve, adjusting herself on the narrow strip of leather before wrapping her arms around his chest. She leaned into his back as she brought her feet up and then they were rolling down the alley, Steve pulling them out onto the street.
It took them a while to get out of Brooklyn traffic, but once Steve pulled them onto the highway, he opened up the throttle and the two of them went racing down the highway. Steve weaved them through the traffic expertly, and Tessa had to admit that rush of adrenaline did feel good. She watched as the clouds past quickly above them for a while before letting her eyes drift shut, just relishing in the feeling of the vibrations under her and the wind around her.
When Tessa watched Steve pull them to a stop in the familiar parking lot of Coney Island, she gave him a pointed look. "An amusement park?" she asked as he pushed the kickstand out with his foot. "Really?" she asked, sliding off the bike, looking over at him with a raised brow.
"You could use with some amusement." Steve shot back at her, swinging his leg off the bike and pulling out the key. "Come on, you use to beg me to bring you here."
"Yeah, when I was fifteen!" Tessa said, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Oh, come on Rose. Humor me." Steve pressed. "Just one day, if you really don't enjoy it, we can leave."
Tessa looked from her brother, over to the amusement park she had not been to in ages. "Fine." She relented with a huff. "But I want one of those obnoxiously big bears that you and Bucky could never win for me." She said before turning on her foot and walking towards the entrance.
Once they got their tickets and entered the park, Tessa found that the sounds and smells in the air filled her with so much nostalgia, that it did help life her spirits. "You're not going to puke on my shoes again, are you?" Tessa shot over at Steve with a smirk as memories from when they had been here last washed over her.
"Oh, come on! That was one time!" Steve said.
"Uh, yeah, and they were my brand new shoes!" Tessa said, shaking her head at the memory. "God, I couldn't get the smell out of them for weeks!" he told him, crinkling her nose up as she remembered how awful the stench had been.
"If I bought you a new pair of shoes now, will you forgive me?" Steve asked, smiling over at her.
"Maybe." Tessa said with a shrug. "But how about first you start by buying me one of those." She told him, pointing over to the large bag of cotton candy hanging in the vendor's booth next to them.
Steve let out a chuckle before walking over to the booth. "Can I get one of these?" Steve asked the attendant, pulling the bag of sugar down.
"Sure." The young man responded before his eyes went wide as he actually took a proper look at Steve. "Hey, aren't you Captain America?" he asked in disbelief.
"Uh, yeah, I am." Steve responded, handing over some money.
"Oh wow!" the guy exclaimed, looking over him with star-struck eyes. "Hey, can I get a picture with you man?"
"Oh, um, sure." Steve said, not really being able to say no to the eager kid.
"My friends are never going to believe this!" he said, digging out his phone. He spun around and brought the phone out in front of him, centering Steve in the frame next to him. Steve gave an awkward smile as the kid snapped a picture. He brought his phone back down, spinning around, and gave Steve the biggest smile. "Thanks man! I can't believe it's really you!"
"Sure." Steve said. "Thanks for the cotton candy." He said, holding up the bag before turning and throwing it into Tessa's arms. "Here." He said as they walked away from the stand.
Tessa opened up the bag and pulled a large chunk of the fluffy treat out before popping it into her mouth, it dissolving on her tongue almost instantly. "I think you're blushing." Tessa told him with a smirk.
"I still can't get used to it." Steve told her honestly as they continued waking through the busy crowd.
"You're telling me. I've spent so much time trying not to be recognized that when it happens now, I sort of panic." She said, pulling another chunk out of the bag and popping it into her mouth. She held the bag out to Steve, and he pulled out a large chunk as well. They walked in silence for a minute, eating the cotton candy as the both of them just watched the crowd around them before Tessa's eyes landed on her brother again. "I'm sorry I haven't really been there for you lately." She told him, suddenly feeling guilty that he was trying so hard to make her feel better. "I mean you're doing okay aren't you….adjusting to everything and all."
"Rose it's not me you should be worrying about." Steve told her seriously. "Everything you've been going through…you've been dealing with a lot….and despite that hard front you put on, I know you're struggling, and that's okay. Sometimes it's okay to be the one who needs help carrying the weight of your problems."
Tessa stopped walking, causing Steve to stop and turn around to face her. "You know, I keep telling myself that this is just something that I have to get over and deal with just like everything else….but ever since I found out I'm Asgardian things are different. I mean, Steve I don't age like a normal human. I always thought that was the serum, but that's just me. And I just can't stop thinking that it's not going to stop. I'm going to keep losing the people I love….over and over and over. Even if it's not today, or tomorrow…you'll all keep growing old and then…"she said, shaking her head, not being able to finish the thought. "And yet I'll still be here. I just….I don't know how much more I can handle." She said, tears burning in her eyes. "I don't want to lose anyone else." She told him, swiping at her eyes as the tears fell out, even though she was fighting to keep them back.
Steve stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He told her, not knowing what else to say, as there was nothing he could say. Tessa let Steve hold her for a minute as she tried to reign in control of her emotions again. "I wish there were more I could do to help ease your pain, Rose. I'd do anything for you, you know that right?"
Tessa wiped her tears away as she held her head pressed up against Steve's chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat. Her eyes took in the game booth to their right and the prizes strung up above the counter. "Well, that giant panda bear over there might make me feel a little better." She said, trying to push the negative emotions away as she knew Steve was trying hard to make her feel better, not worse.
Steve looked over at the booth she had been looking at as she pushed away from him. He looked up at the massive stuffed prize with a raised eyebrow. "You seriously want that ridiculous thing?" he laughed at her.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, looking back up to him. "You know how many times you and Bucky promised to win me one of those?" she scoffed at him. "I mean, I feel like it's statistically impossible for you to not win one of these games now. So, come on Captain, let's see what you got." She said pushing back on his shoulder before stepping over to the booth.
Steve paid the attendant and was given three balls to try to knock the wooden milk bottles down off the stand sitting a few yards back. All he had to do was knock over all three bottles and the panda would be hers. Unfortunately, it seemed that Steve's skill at these games didn't improve much. Tessa looked up at Steve in disbelief after he launched the final ball, not even coming close to the bottles once. "Wow Steve. How can you still be so terrible at this?" she asked him in shock.
"Oh, shut up!" Steve told her before pulling out another bill and handing it over.
"No, I'm honestly trying to do the math here. You can hit an enemy dead-on hundreds of yards away, but you can't hit some bottles?" she told him humorously.
"Yeah, yeah. I just wasn't focused. I'm warmed up now." He said, tossing the baseball up in the air as he looked down at his target. He swung his arm back and threw the ball again and it sailed right over the top of the bottles.
"Careful, you keep warming up like this and I think you just might catch fire." She sassed at him with a smirk, only for Steve to push her away by the shoulder. Tessa stumbled back with a laugh as Steve reared back and threw his next ball. This time he hit the bottles, but only one knocked off the stand.
"Oh, so close!" the attendant yelled out. "One more chance there, buddy." He said, obviously having no idea who Steve was.
"Damn it, Steven! Are you even trying?" she asked him.
"Of course, I am!" Steve shot back at her. "I got this." He said, bringing his arm back and throwing the ball one last time. However, it seemed that he put a little too much effort behind the throw, as it connected with the bottles, sending them flying back off the stand, splintering out in an explosion of wooden shards, and the ball kept going, tearing out the back of the booth, leaving a hole in its wake.
The attendant was staring down at the broken bottles in disbelief before he lifted his eyes up to Steve. Tessa let out a holler of joy, stepping up to the stand. "I'll take that one!" she said, pointing up to the big panda bear in glee. The man just kept staring at Steve with his jaw hung open, having no idea what had just happened.
After she had the large toy in her arms, Tessa admittedly felt much better. They walked around the park the rest of the day, playing more games and riding on a few rides. And thankfully, Steve didn't puke on her shoes this time. By the time the sun had begun to set, and they were riding back to the apartment with Tessa's newly acquired bear strapped onto her back (a sight which caused a lot of staring to occur), the smile on Tessa's mouth no longer had to be forced for Steve's sake. She felt incredibly lighter….happy even.
As she pushed open their apartment door, her prize in one hand and her promised Chinese food in the other, the smile that had found its way onto her face dropped. Her eyes took in the familiar outline of someone sitting in the shadows and she let out a deep sigh. "You know, I was actually having a good day." She said in exasperation, dropping the food she was carrying on the table and letting her stuffed bear fall to the ground. "Fury, why are you in my apartment sitting in the dark like a creep…again?"
"You've been ignoring my calls." He told her.
"Yeah, some would take the hint." She told him, walking over with her arms crossed.
"Sorry for ruining your day, but I had no where else to go….the wife kicked me out." Fury responded as she clicked on the light.
Tessa's muscles tensed and she went on instant alert as she realized he had used the code word she had been taught, alerting her to danger. And suddenly, Tessa wished she and Steve had never left Coney Island that day.