*Author's Note*
Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews.
I'm so sorry that it took me a good month to get this out. Work has been hectic and my family was hit with a tragedy as well. Anyays, I was planning on having Darcy bring Billy to work in this chapter, but the muses had other plans. Darcy bringing Billy to SHIELD will be in the next chapter. This chapter is all focused-on Cap, Gem, and Brock. Anyways, read and enjoy.
Awkward & Thoughtful
Cap POV:
Rumlow, who was sitting on the other side of Gem, opened up a pizza box that was marked Special in black marker. Watching him as he took two slices out; passing one to Gem, while the others around the coffee table just took slices from an open pepperoni box, I dryly pointed out, "Being a picky eater again, Rumlow."
"Cap, it's Commander Rumlow to you, and you know I'm on a paleo diet." Rumlow replied while Thor appeared at the table, grabbing a large box marked Hawaiian in black marker while Jane just sat on their shared sitting chair, staring at the rogue naval pilot on tv. Actually, all of the women in the room seemed to be enamored with Maverick, the rogue naval pilot and one of his classmates, Ice Man.
Turning around to look at me, while munching on a slice of pizza, Russo rudely told me, "Captain America, I don't see why it's your business what he eats. Everyone has different taste; leave him to his and worry about yourself."
"Russo-" I began, only for him to interrupt me with, "Lieutenant Russo, if we're being goddamn formal."
Shaking my head, I sighed, "Lieutenant Russo, no need to be so rude to me or use such language. I was just pointing out that Rumlow can't eat what the rest of us do, which is wasteful and a burden on the budget of our hosts."
"The depression ended when that war you were a hero in was hot and heavy. Buying specialty pizzas isn't going to kill Darcy's pizza fund." Billy sneered at me, baring his teeth. His eyes were cold as they cut me with a hard stare, a stare that I'm sure a gorgon would use to turn a man into stone.
"You two, stop it." Gem ordered while at the same time Darcy remarked, "Word. An extra pizza for my tazer bro doesn't hurt my wallet." Tazer bro? What?
Brock just chuckled while I shook my head. "What about Gem's wallet? Hmm?" I asked, causing everyone to pause in eating their food and look at me. Well, everyone, but Thor paused in eating. Thor just sat on his chair with Jane while woofing down his pizza. He never paused in eating for anything. He was simple, but a great man to have in a fight. He didn't seem bothered by the pizza debate that was going on, but his girlfriend seemed to be. She stopped eating only to narrow her eyes and mumble, "Feminism isn't strong with this one…", under her breath.
"My wallet's fine, Cap." Gem assured me, only to go on and worry me by adding in, "Besides, Brock rarely lets me pay for his food and when I do I have plenty of money to cover the cost."
With knitted brows and a frown, I asked, "You go out to eat with Brock frequently?"
"Of course, she does, Cap. Just cause you saw us eating with Jack Monday doesn't mean we don't have lunch by ourselves." Brock told me, his tone oozing cockiness, in between eating his odd no cheese pizza.
Hmm…bet Gem's casual man would just love hearing that. I guess since Gem got put on a work project with Brock's spending a few lunches with him, but it's not kosher. He should go bother Sheila at work. I was about to tell him that too, but didn't get the chance to since Tina changed the subject by pointing to the screen and saying dreamily, "God, isn't Tom Cruise so hot as Maverick? I swear, this man never ages and is fine."
"Maybe he's a real vampire, like his character from An Interview With The Vampire." Cameron suggested in a playful tone before taking a bite out of his pizza.
"Vampire or not, he's hot." Darcy remarked around a mouthful of pizza.
"But he's not as hot as Val Kilmer." Gem countered, her eyes twinkling as she watched Val Kilmer, who was playing Ice Man in the movie, play beach volley ball with Maverick and the other Top Gun students.
"See you've got a type, baby." Rumlow waggled his brows, causing Gem to blush and smack him in the chest.
"Her type's the same as Darcy's." Russo cackled, causing everyone in the room except for me to burst out into fits of giggles and loud laughter.
"There type's jacked-boots, to my utter horror." Jane said after the laughter in the room died down.
"Don't let my dearest Jane fool you, she approves." Thor quipped around a mouthful of Hawaiian pizza. Jane secretly approves of Darcy being with Billy and Gem being with that guy her family set her up with, the casual one that's too old for her and doesn't have the decency to treat her the way a gentleman should? And I thought the scientist would see things my way. Apparently not…
I can't wait until this movie night's over and I can go home. Tonight's movie night feels awkward with both Rumlow and Russo hanging all over Gem and Darcy. The fact that everyone else seems to be turning a blind eye to it too doesn't make matters any better. The only thing that could make things worse is if Gem's casual man showed up and caused a scene with Rumlow for being too forward with her. Tonight, was going to be a long night, and I thought some of my nights running SSR missions in the war were long.
The blinds were drawn open, letting the mid-morning Sunday sun shine into Peggy's room. Thankfully, she was having a good day today. I entered her room only to see her sitting in bed, sipping on some tea while flipping thru large family photo album. "Morning, Peggy. How's my best girl doing?" I greeted Peggy, walking further into her room after closing her door behind me.
Tearing her eyes off of her photo album and turning her attention to me, she softly smiled and replied, "Oh, Steve, it's so good to see you today. I truly could use a friend right now."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I came by for our Sunday mid-morning visit then." I replied with a smile while making my way over to the chair by Peggy's bedside.
"Would you care to look at some pictures of Rhett with me?" Peggy asked, looking at me with an inquiring, but sad smile, as she tilted the bulky album slightly in my direction so I could see the pictures on the two pages.
"Of course, I'll look at it with you." I assured her as my eyes roamed over the pictures of a man around my age (well, the age I look not my true age). He had medium brown hair and a thin layer of scruffy whiskers covering his face. His eyes were the same shade of rich brown as Peggy's, he also had her chin too. There was no denying that he was her grandson. Anyone that looked at them together could point out the familial resemblance. I told as her much with, "He favors you, Peggy."
"Oh, Steve, he's the only one out of my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that truly got his looks from my side. Everyone else favors my Dan more so than me." With the way she spoke with such reverence I could pick up on the slight hint that her late grandson was her favorite. Peggy pointed to the far corner of the second page at a picture of him wearing a New York Rangers hockey shirt with a cameo jacket over it. "Rhett was on his last deployment to the Middle East when this was taken." She told me in a sad, almost broken tone.
Oh no, it was the deployment that he had fallen on. "Peggy…" I softly sighed, in a way letting her know that she didn't need to talk about it or show me anymore pictures. She went to turn the page, but I stopped her by placing my hand on hers. "Maybe you should rest. These memories of his last deployment seem to be upsetting you."
"No. No, Steve, I can't just act like he didn't die." Peggy blurted out in a sad, half-frantic tone. Looking at the album, tears welled up in her eyes as she admitted in a soft, broken but bitter tone, "Nobody talks about him or remembers him anymore. The only other people that remembers him and visits me on the anniversary of his death are his best friend from the SEALS and my nephew."
Gently, I pried the album away from her while being the voice of reason. "Peggy, you need to rest. Getting upset won't help you in your condition."
"Tomorrow will be 10-years, Steve!" Peggy whisper-shouted. Oh, poor Peggy. I reached out to grab her hand; offer some comforting support, but she ignored my gesture while shaking her head. "His unit was on patrol and just entered a countryside village when they were ambush-" Peggy began to tell me, only for me to quickly interrupted her with a soft, but stern, "Peggy, you don't need to tell me what happened. Remember him as he was, not the horrors of his last moments."
Her lip quivered, but she let me hold her hand this time when I reached out for it. We sat in a silence for a few moments and I assumed she might've drifted back in on herself, something that happens frequently in her condition with the dementia. She broke the silence, proving that she still had some sense about her, as he revealed, "Rhett's best friend sent his Pops to the funeral in his stead since he couldn't abandon his post; his deployment." Her eyes began to get a glassy look to them as she trailed off with, "His Pops was very nice in the somber event. Brought flowers and spoke very highly about Rhett; said he liked him from the handful of times he met him."
"His best friend and his pops sound like good people."
"They are." Peggy confirmed, a soft smile appearing on her lips, before adding in, "They get along well with my nephew, who's a bit too much like his father for his own good."
Suddenly, she blinked at me and her shoulders slumped as a lost look appeared in her eyes, signaling that her lucid moments of the morning were now lost. Sadly, she told me the same thing she always did when the memory damaging disease took hold of her and in turn, I gave her the same answer I always did and spent a few more moments with her before leaving to meet Gem at the Smithsonian for our date.
Gem POV:
Pulling to a stop at the curb of the Smithsonian's American History building (which was near the National Mall) Brock looked at me and said, "If you wanna ditch him and come home early you can. Just give me a call and I'll get ya, baby."
"Brock, be nice." I chastised my boyfriend, causing him to just shrug. Leaning over the console, I pecked a kiss to his lips. "I'll see you in a couple of hours." I assured him, grabbing my bag from the floorboard and slinging it over my shoulder before opening the door and getting out of the Jeep.
"I better, I already paid for the fight." Brock dryly chuckled, causing me to just roll my eyes and give him an incredulous little smile.
"Bye honey." I told Brock before shutting the Jeep's door and walking onto the sidewalk; blending into the tourists hustling and bustling around as I made my way up to the large majestic building that was one of the country's most prized museums of history and art. The large white building reminded me of one of the old ancient temples in Rome or Athens with its design. Of course, only I would think that.
Once I reached the stairs leading to the front entrance of the building, which had tourists walking up and down them, I spotted Steve standing against one of the Parthenon-styled pillars. He had on a navy Yankees cap, pulled down low to hide his features, and was wearing an outfit that was very grandpa-esque. Gosh, khakis and plaid button ups don't pair well with Yankee ballcaps, but to each their own.
"Hey." I greeted Steve as I came to a stop right in front of him. "You don't mind giving me a ride after this, do you?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't since I really didn't want to inconvenience Brock by making him drive to the other side of town to pick me up. Especially since I knew he'd be busy cooking and preparing snacks for tonight's pay-per-view fight.
"Oh, you don't have your car today?" He asked while leading me away from the pillar; towards the large entrance doors of the museum.
"Nope." I popped my tongue.
"Well, I don't mind giving you a ride once we're finished seeing the exhibit, doll." He assured me with a friendly smile as we followed some tourists inside the large lobby of the museum. We walked in silence for a few minutes before coming across a big sign advertising an exhibit about Captain America. So many people were looking at the sign with awe and wonder before walking past it and into the exhibit. "I've been to this exhibit a few times, but it never gets old." Steve told me, leading me past the sign all the while Gary Sinise's voice spoke over the intercom with a pre-recorded commentary of, "A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice."
Oh boy, Brock was never going to let me live this down. He'll be laughing his damn ass off once I tell him about Steve taking me to the Captain America exhibit.
Curiosity got the better of me, causing me to ask, "Why're we at this exhibit instead of the one with the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz on display or something?", as Steve led me over to a large display with his before and after super soldier serum stats on it.
"I thought it'd be nice for you to learn more about me, plus seeing the exhibit always brings back some memories of good friends too." Steve answered as we got closer to the serum stats display.
"Oh…" Fell off my tongue and awkwardly lingered in the air. What was I supposed to say to that? I mean all of his war buddies, except for a handful like Peggy or Cam's grandpa, were dead and gone. Well, my Gramps was alive and kicking, but he wasn't one of Steve's war buddies.
"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier." Gary Sinise's pre-recorded commentary played as me and Steve came to a stop at the display of his pre- and post-serum stats. Something that everyone who took American History in high school learned.
The left side of the display had a picture of skinny Steve (what every single person dubbed pre-serum Steve when learning about him in high school) with the words Pre-Serum printed above it. His pre-serum states were listed below his picture. It read:
Weight: 95 lbs
Height: 5'4"
Eyes: Astigmatic
Ailments: Asthma, Scoliosis, Fallen Arches, Heart Arrythmia, Partial Deafness, Stomach Ulcers, Pernicious Anemia
Bench Press: 30lbs
100 Yard Dash: 21.48 seconds
Wow, he sure did have a lot wrong with him. I let out a tiny giggle and teased Steve with, "I think all of the women in my family are bigger than Skinny Steve and the women in my family aren't that big."
"Skinny Steve?" Steve asked, his face pulled up in a quizzical, but lost look. It was a bit adorable.
"That's what everyone you had History after World Ward II calls pre-serum you."
"Oh. I didn't know that."
"Well, now you do." I simply told him with a small smile while drifting my eyes over to the right side of the display.
The right side of the display had a picture of Steve with his post-serum stats listen under it. It read:
Weight: 240 lbs
Height: 6'2"
Eyes: 20/20
Ailments: None
Bench Press: 2,000lbs
100 Yard Dash:9.38 seconds
Once again, I opened my mouth and blurted out the first thought to fly into my head- which just happened to be, "You must be brave to let me see how much you weigh. Some people don't even share that delicate info with their significant others after they've been together a long time."
"I don't think it's a big deal, Gem." Steve told me, leading me away from the display. Looking at me, he curiously asked, "Do you know about your casual man's measurements or is that too delicate to share?"
I was a bit taken aback by his remark, but I think that's because of the way his voice sounded when he made it. His tone wasn't bitter, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn't condescending either, but it just felt-I dunno-like he was making fun of Brock in a way (I don't know how else to describe it other then that since I know they don't really like each other. The movie nights I've had with them proves that).
"Things aren't so casual between us anymore, but I know his 'stats'. He's very proud of his 5-percent body fat at his age." I told Steve, walking away from the display.
"At his age?" He asked, walking next to me towards the next display.
"He's a good 15-years older than me, so he prides himself on his 'youthful' appearance." He worked with Brock, he has to know how prideful he is about his body and young looks. I'm sure all of SHIELD knows since it's more or less a popular topic in the office gossip mill.
"Oh, I didn't know he was that much older than you." Steve remarked in a tone the got under my skin. He sounded like he was appalled by the age gap between me and Brock, which pissed me off cause he shouldn't be calling the kettle black considering he was born in 1918.
"You don't have room to talk, Steve. You'd be old enough to be the grandpa of any girl you date." I pointed out right as we stopped in front of a display that had a large screen playing old footage of Captain America and the Howling Commandos during one of their raids. Under the large screen were mannequins dressed in the war uniforms of Captain America and the Howling Commandos.
"Gem-" Steve began only for me to hold my hand up and cut him off with, "I want to listen to Lieutenant Dan commentate this."
He let out a sigh and clamped his mouth shut, all the while Gary Sinise's pre-recorded commentary played in sync with the footage. "Battle Tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division." And they failed that mission, considering me and Brock are triple agents trying to bring down HYDRA by staying in Pierce's good graces and 'proving' ourselves loyal in older to smuggle information to Fury and Coulson (Who I still haven't met yet. Hell, not even a phone call with him, nothing).
Silently, Steve led us over to the next display. Sadly, the next display was one about his childhood best friend, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes. Footage of Steve and Bucky in the war together played, all while Gary Sinise's voice played overhead with, "Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes in the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."
Looking over at Steve, I noticed that he had this guilt ridden look on his face; a sadness in his eyes as he looked at his best friend's display. God, his look gutted me; made me feel so bad for him. What happened to Bucky wasn't his fault, but it seemed like Steve was carrying the weight of the blame tho. Deciding to be a good friend, I gently touched Steve's arm while assuring him, "What happened to Bucky wasn't your fault, Steve. It was just a tragic war accident; he wouldn't want you to blame yourself over his death."
Steve's posture went rigid and he pulled his arm away from my touch. Without saying a word, he marched off towards a nearby room. Letting out a long huff of a sigh, I trudged behind Steve. Hell, I was just trying to help him and he got all pissy. I didn't mean any arm, but of course he didn't want to hear any assurances and sympathy from me about Bucky. Figures.
When I caught up to him, he was entering a room playing an old interview of Agent Peggy Carter. She was rumored to be the woman that Steve was madly in love with. Oh god, watching this interview with Steve was going to be awkward. Shit, and I thought that thing with Bucky awkward. Bet this thing with Peggy was going to top that. Silently, we took our seats in the front row of the tiny theatre room.
Other people were in the room too, but not many, as the interviewer on screen greeted Peggy with a polite good morning and began to ask her some questions about the start of the SSR and SHIELD. The answers she gave were things that everybody read in their history books in school. It wasn't anything surprising. But of course, the interviewer was just using those questions as an icebreaker. It only took a few minutes before he got down to business and told her he wanted to move on to the topic of Steve Rogers, to which Peggy just politely smiled and nodded. The interviewer asked about her initial reaction to Project Rebirth, about the original plan for an entire army squad of super soldiers, and a few others things.
Then the interview took a turn when the interviewer told Peggy that he spoke with a few men that credited Steve with saving them from Volgograd, Russia in 1945. Steve pressed his lips into a thin line as Peggy told the interviewer, "That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half of our battalion behind the German line. Steve…Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would…who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life." Oh…wow…yea, I knew watching this interview with him was going to be awkward.
God, why couldn't we have just gone to the Wizard of Oz exhibit or something like normal people? No…we just had to see the Captain America one, which was full of different level of awkward goodies all cause Steve wanted me to know more about him. Shit, it would've been easier if we just played a game of 20-questions.
Cap POV:
"Gem, would you like to go get something to eat? Maybe we could go to that chicken place again?" I suggested as we made to exit the lobby of the Smithsonian.
"Actually, Steve, I need you to take me to Brock's. It's not that far, so it won't be too hard for you to get there." Gem told me, a sweet smile on her face, as we walked out into the late summer afternoon.
Hearing that Gem wanted me to take her to Rumlow's house was like a hard punch to the gut. I knew that she was working on something with him for Fury, something that was very hush-hush and top-secret, but that didn't mean that I ever thought she'd have to go see him to go over something after being shown a great time by me.
"I'll take you." I told her, only to quickly follow it up with an inquiry of, "But, Gem, are you sure whatever it is you need to see Rumlow about, that it can't wait until tomorrow at work?"
"He's expecting me, Steve. I'm sorry, but I can't just blow him off to go eat with you." Gem told me as we walked down the endless stone steps of the museum. Of course, Gem's too sweet of a girl to cold shoulder Rumlow on their plans. She would be put onto some kind of project with him by fury. Dangit…
"I understand, just be careful around Rumlow. He's a bit of a rogue and a…well…a ladies' man." I advised as we walked away from the museum, down the sidewalk, and towards the direction the public parking lot my Harley was in.
"Brock's not that bad Steve; he might've been a 'ladies' man' before, but he's not now." Gem defended Rumlow, most likely because she doesn't know his true nature, as we walked side by side down the sidewalk.
"Look, Gem, you haven't known Rumlow that long so of course you're just seeing his 'good' side, but I've worked with him since I was pulled out of the ice and just trust me when I tell you that he's somebody to keep your guard up around."
"How 'bout we stop talking about this and you can just take me to Brock's. If not, I'll just call him; get him to pick me up." Gem tightly told me while digging around in her purse for her phone.
"Sure. Let's get you to Rumlow's." I relented with a slight nod, causing her to stop digging in her purse.
Silently, we made our way to the public parking lot that was a few blocks away. The sounds of birds chirping, cars going by, and people conversing echoed all around us. I wanted to say something to her, but I didn't know what. She was such a sweet girl and it seems that by warning her about Rumlow's ways that I accidently offended her. I didn't want to make things worse and ruin our great day, so I decided to stay quiet.
Once we reached my bike, Gem broke the silence with, "Brock lives in a Brownstone on 30th Street."
"He lives on 30th Street?" I asked in disbelief while getting onto my Harley. Rumlow didn't strike me as the type to live in a large brownstone in a part of the city that politicians, lawyers, and other high-end people lived. I always assumed he had an apartment or condo somewhere in a less flashy part of town, but of course leave it to Rumlow to live in the high-end part of DC. Of course, 30th street was near the highway that led to the bridge over to Roosevelt Island where SHIELD's headquarters was at. Leave it to him to be close to work.
"Yea, at 1239 30th Street North West." She told me while getting on the bike behind me. Loosely wrapping her arms around my waist, she asked, "Can you find it, or do I need to just call him for the ride?"
"Don't worry, I can find it, Gem." I assured her before revving my motorcycle to life and backing out of the parking spot. Without another word, I took off down the street to bring Gem to Rumlow's (something I was a bit leery about).
*15 Minutes Later…*
Brock POV:
I was sitting on the couch, watching some sports reporters talking about the Pay Per View fight that'd be starting in another hour or so, whenever I heard the rumbling of a motorcycle pull up outside. My ears perked up and I smirked, knowing that Gem was home. Eh, I would've preferred it if she ditched Cap and called me earlier to get her, but of course that didn't happen. I swear, Gem was too nice to Cap. She needed to channel her Gramps and get some of that Cap hatred going on otherwise he's going to be chasing after her like a dog with a goddamn bone.
With a grin on my face, I shot up from the couch and went over to the door. I opened it and stepped over the threshold right as Gem had just dismounted the bike. "Bye, Steve." She waved to him before walking away from the bike and up my driveway.
"Bye, Gem. Take care, doll." Steve told her in a tone that portrayed he wasn't too pleased that she was going to be spending the night with me.
"Don't worry, Cap. I'll take good care of her." I called out to Cap with a large eat shit grin on my face.
"Rumlow, do you always have to be such a rogue?" He asked in a chastising hiss.
"It's part of my charm." I dryly replied, only for Cap to shake his head and speed off down the street like a bat out of hell.
"He never drives like that when I'm on the bike with him." Gem informed me as the rumbling of Cap's bike got farther away and less audible.
"Guess he's afraid you'll fall off and break like a glass figurine." I chuckled, causing Gem to just roll her chocolate brown eyes at me as she came up to my side. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I suggested, "How 'bout we take a ride sometime? I got a Harley in the garage and I like to go fast."
"I should've never let you watch Ricky Bobby Friday night." Gem mused as I led us over the threshold and into the house. "Anyways, I'd like to go on a ride with you sometime." She smiled as I closed the door behind us.
"Yea?" I asked, making sure that she'd go with me whenever I asked. Riding my Harley wasn't something I planned on doing. I just did it whenever the mood struck; whenever I needed to feel a sense of freedom.
"Yea." She nodded as we made our way down the entrance hall.
"So, how was your museum date with Cap?" I asked, partly because I was curious, as we entered the living room.
"It wasn't a date, Brock, and it was awkward."
"I think he thinks it's a date, but if you say it's not…" I trailed off, causing her to cut her eyes at me and lightly smack me on the chest. "So, why was it awkward?" I asked as we made our way over to the leather couch.
"He took me to see the Captain America exhibit." My girl deadpanned while dramatically plopping down on my couch.
"Hell, I saw that coming a mile away." I chuckled, taking a seat next to her.
"I wished we would've seen the Wizard of Oz exhibit with the ruby slippers."
"We can always go see the ruby slippers." I told Gem, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"I'll hold you to that, honey." She smiled at me. She let out a sigh, only to say, "Anyways, between Steve drowning in self guilt over Bucky at his display and being all melancholy over Peggy in a theatre room playing her 1955 interview about him, I don't know what made the day awkward."
"Peggy married her SHIELD agent partner, Daniel Sousa, you know." I told her while leaning back comfortably in the leather couch.
"Really? I didn't know that?"
"Yea." I nodded. "Dan was a cool guy. He had a prosthetic leg, but he never let it bother him or slow him down as an agent."
Turning to me, she asked, "Did you know him?"
I nodded. "Yea; I know Peggy too."
"Oh, were they still at SHIELD when you joined?" She asked, most likely assuming that's how I met them. Can't blame her for that assumption, it's a good one even if it's wrong.
"No, they were retired." I simply answered my girlfriend, to which she just let out a soft 'oh'. "I met them thru an old buddy of mine before I joined SHIELD. Actually, Peggy and Dan recommended me to Fury when he was asking if they knew of anyone that could do a dangerous and covert long-term undercover op." I explained, knowing that since we were now 'serious' that I needed to trust her with more intense details about my life.
Raising one of her dark brows, she asked, "Does Steve know that you know them?"
"No and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Why? Cause he thinks you're an untrustworthy rogue and a ladies' man." Ah, so America's favorite boy scout's been talking shit 'bout me to my girl. Nice fucking guy, huh?
"Yes, that's exactly it." I dryly answered as the reporters on tv hyped up the upcoming fight between McGregor and his opponent.
Shaking her head incredulously, Gem huffed, "God, you guys really don't like each other, do you?"
"He started the dislike shit first, baby girl. I just hopped on board cause why the fuck am I gonna like somebody that doesn't like me."
"Okay, I won't tell him that you know the Sousas." Gem promised, causing relief to flood thru me.
"Thank you, baby." I told Gem, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll go get us dinner and bring it in here so we can eat while we wait for the fight." I told Gem, standing up and walking away from the couch.
"What'd you make?" She asked as I made me way to the hallway.
"A cold zoodle pasta salad." I answered while continuing down the hall and into the kitchen. "You'll like it. It has cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives, pepperoncini, and a balsamic dressing." I called out to Gem while entering my kitchen.
"Sounds good. Are we having wine with it?" She asked, a bit loudly, as I reached the fridge.
"Sure, baby." I called back while grabbing both the bowl of pasta salad and the bottle of prosecco out of the fridge.
Our conversation ended and the only sound in the house was the tv as I fixed us some plates. It only took me a few minutes before I was entering the living room, balancing plates, wine glasses, and a bottle of prosecco in my hands. Gem just flashed me a smile and said, "Most guys are pizza and beer types when watching a fight. Wasn't expecting you to be so sophisticated." She playfully snarked as I set everything down on the coffee table.
"I'm not sophisticated; just figured you'd want a nice meal after dealing with Cap all day." I replied, going over to the end table between the couch and my sitting chair to retrieve my swiss army knife.
"Thanks for being so thoughtful. It means a lot." My girlfriend told me as I opened the table drawer and grabbed the multi-tool knife out of the cluttered drawer.
"Since I'm being so thoughtful today, I might as well ask you if you'd like to go with me after work to visit Peggy tomorrow." I slammed the end table drawer shut and grabbed the bottle of wine from the coffee table. "Tony Stark's in town visiting her tomorrow; she doesn't have any visitors in that VA home she's been in since her Alzheimer's kicked in and I usually visit her when he does." I explained while uncorking the prosecco and pouring some into our glasses.
"Yea, I'll go." Gem answered me with a small, warm smile. Grabbing her wine glass as I took a seat next to her, she curiously asked, "So, does Steve know that you visit her?"
"I doubt it. Poor thing doesn't even remember me." I replied, sipping on my glass of wine. Setting down my glass, only to grab my plate from the coffee table, I sighed, "She doesn't really remember Tony either, but it's important that we see her once in a while." Truth was that we had to visit her tomorrow. I just wasn't ready to go into it with Gem tho, despite us growing closer and becoming more serious. "So, you've met Tony when you interned with Rhodey, right?" I asked as we started to eat dinner; changing the solemn subject in the blink of an eye.
"Yea, he's Rhodey's best friend so it was hard not to meet him." She confirmed with a nod of her head before shoving a forkful of pasta salad into her mouth. "Oh my god, Brock, for being a zoodle pasta salad this is so good." She half-moaned between chewing her food. "I swear, if you made this for my Nonna she'd want the recipe."
"Remind me to make it for her when we visit for thanksgiving." I responded, only to quickly move on and suggest, "Wanna ask Tony if he's like to have dinner with us tomorrow night? We could get him to invite Rhodey too."
"Sure." Gem nodded. "I'd like that."