Chapter 19
Steve and I had too much energy to burn. We spent half the night burning off the calories in the manner Lester suggested earlier. "Why am I so horny?" I asked Steve.
"You're probably fertile," he replied. "Bruce said to exercise caution when you become insatiable."
"So I'll get pregnant if a condom breaks?" I asked.
"Possibly, but I'm not willing to test that theory yet," he stated. "I want to spend more time with you before we add children."
"Thank you, Steve." I showed him how grateful I was for agreeing to wait. He fell asleep from exhaustion.
I couldn't sleep, so I went to the gym to work out. Bucky arrived at 3 am to spar. "Can't sleep either?" he asked.
"Nope. I have too much energy to expel," I confessed. "Did Thor return?" I asked.
"He was in his suite when we returned from the wedding," Bucky replied. "Do you need him to fight too?"
"Couldn't hurt," I said as I pinned Bucky to the mats.
"Great improvement, Doll. I'm proud of you," he stated before jumping to his feet. We sparred for another hour when Thor arrived to take over.
"Why the anger?" Thor asked.
"I'm not angry," I replied. My emotions were running a little close to the surface.
"You are angry. Hit me with all your strength. I can take it," Thor insisted.
Digging deep into myself, I pulled the anger I suppressed from the second accident to the surface. "Woah. Everyone except Thor clears the room!" I vaguely heard someone shout.
I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears seconds before a loud explosion sounded from across the room. "Bomber," Bruce said as he slowly approached me. His shirt and pants were slightly torn, indicating the Hulk made an appearance.
Thor approached to hug me. "Lady Stephanie throws bombs," he proudly announced.
Great, now I'm never going to shake that horrible nickname. Bomber insinuates I like to blow up things. Bombshell would be more appropriate. Then I could pretend it means attractive. Thor appears to be very proud I can throw bomb energy. Banner probably thinks I'm a greater menace than the other guy.
"Steph, you're not a menace," Bruce stated.
"Did I say my entire monologue out loud?" I asked.
"No, but I am proud you throw bomb energy," Thor replied.
"How do you know what I said?" I asked.
"Sweetheart, look at me," Steve said as he approached. He was wearing basketball shorts and a tight top. My husband looks sexy, I thought. Steve smiled. "I think you project your thoughts into our mind while maintaining eye contact. Did anyone else hear Steph's thoughts?"
A unanimous 'no' sounded throughout the gym. I practiced on a few more people as JARVIS recorded us. The object of my focus could only hear my thoughts if I specifically thought about them. We wanted to test out the theory on someone with whom I wasn't overly familiar.
Tony invited a man into the Avengers tower whom I never met before. I looked at him to assess him. The man broke our connection to ask Tony, "Was I supposed to do something?"
"Did you hear anything?" Tony asked.
"Hear what?" the man asked.
"Steph, ask Happy a question," Tony suggested. I maintained eye contact with Happy. In my mind, I asked him why his family would name him Happy. Was he a happy baby?
"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn't hear anything," he replied.
"It only works on familiar people then. Thank you for your assistance, Happy," Tony said to dismiss him.
I wasn't ready for him to leave. "Why did your family name you Happy? Were you a happy baby?" I asked.
Happy laughed, "It's my nickname, ma'am."
"Please, call me Steph," I automatically replied. "If Happy is your nickname, they why aren't you, you know, happy?"
"He wears a permanent scowl," Tony said as he laughed.
"I get it now. Tony called you Happy because he was sarcastic," I stated.
"Steph, are you okay?" Wanda asked inside my head. I looked around the gym for her, but she wasn't around.
Concentrating on her voice I hear in my mind, I answer, "Mostly, but I have enough problems accidentally saying my thoughts out loud. Now I have to worry about someone hearing my inner thoughts when I'm maintaining eye contact. I admit it would be beneficial during my intimate moments with Steve, but how is it going to help me?"
She waited a few minutes before replying, "Relaying a silent message to someone through eye contact could help during missions. We can work on your ability and see if you can send a silent message without eye contact."
"I'm willing to give it a try," I answered.
"We can start practicing tomorrow," she suggested. "See you tomorrow, Steph. You need to discuss your abilities with Natasha and Steve."
"Okay. Thanks, Wanda," I replied.
"Is she having a seizure?" I heard Darcy ask when I broke my connection with Wanda.
"I don't think so, Doll. She appears to be concentrating on something," Bucky replied.
I looked into Bucky's eyes and thought, "I was talking to Wanda. She's going to teach me how to control this specific ability."
"Ah," he said out loud. "Steph was talking telepathically to Wanda," he informed everyone.
"You can seriously do that?" Lester excitedly asked as he entered the gym.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. Ranger, Tank, Bobby and Hector followed Lester into the gym.
"Babe, are you okay?" Ranger asked.
"I'm fine. What are you doing here?" I knew he wasn't here because of my abilities or to check on me.
"Your abilities are manifesting," Ranger replied.
Great, I thought as I stared at Ranger. What does he know?
"You throw energy bombs," he replied.
"And put thoughts into people's minds," Bobby added. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes.
"I can communicate with Wanda," I stated. "She doesn't need to be in the room."
"Wanda has her talents," Bucky stated.
"Okay. Let me ask again, what are you doing here?" Ranger wasn't here to discuss my newfound abilities. My spidey sense was telling me I was officially on temporary leave.
"Babe," Ranger groaned.
"Seriously? I'm on temporary leave?" I asked. "Why?"
Bruce decided to answer the question for Ranger. "Steph, you aren't in control of your powers. Until you learn control, it's safer for you to stay here," he gently stated.
I stomped my foot and left to return to my room. Steve caught up with me outside our door. He must have run up the stairs.
"Sweetheart," Steve said as he pushed me into our apartment. "Are you okay?"
"Why is everyone asking if I'm okay?" I wondered. "I'm fine. I have new abilities. So what? Why is it such a big deal?"
Steve held my face between his hands. "Steph, sweetheart. You can blow up things. Think, my love. You know the answer," he whispered. He kissed me lightly as he stroked my face. Steve deepened the kiss. I felt the energy build up in my system. As our kiss grew more passionate, I felt the energy building.
I broke our kiss. My mouth opened wide as I realized what Steve was trying to tell me. "Oh my goodness. I need to control the energy surge. What if I expel my bomb energy during sex?" I said, panicking. "I could blow us up."
"Steph, you won't hurt me," Steve reassured me.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I trust you. Hurting me is the last thing you would do. Let Wanda help. She can teach you how to control your powers," he replied.
"Wanda offered to help, and I accepted. I realize it will take time for me to control the surges," I shared. "Blowing up while having sex is one hell of a way to go."
Steve laughed. "We often get carried away, but I doubt it would be that explosive," he joked.
"You better hope for your sake that's true." I ripped his shirt from his body. "Shower," I purred as I dragged his shirt behind me.
He scooped me into his arms and ran us to our washroom. Steve dumped me in the shower before turning on the cold water. Screaming, I said, "It's too cold."
I felt Steve rip my clothes from my body, baring me for a shower. He growled as he pushed into me. Our super serum enhanced the romantic soulmate connection. We were more in tune with each other than before. Everything we felt and thought transferred between our words as they pressed together. My orgasm was more intense than before. Steve quickly followed me over.
"Stephanie, I love you more each day," Steve said as he leaned his forehead against mine.
"I feel the same way," I said as I held his gaze. All of my emotions and words rushed through my mind. His eyes filled with tears as he felt the intensity of my love for him.
As we wrapped towels around our bodies, we heard catcalls, whistles and clapping from the other room. "I think they heard us," Steve whispered.
"How mad will Tony get if I bombed them?" I asked.
"Don't do it, Doll," Bucky unnecessarily hollered. I could be embarrassed they heard us, but it wasn't the first time they listened on the other side of the door.
"We forgot to engage the privacy mode and shut the bedroom door," I whispered.
"It wouldn't stop Natasha from overriding the protocol. A closed bedroom door wouldn't stop her," Steve reminded me.
Bucky closed the bedroom door as I peeked from the bathroom. He was giving us privacy to dress. "We're alone in the bedroom," I stated.
"But not in our suite," Steve said as he listened to the whispering in the living room. He passed me one of his shirts to wear. I pulled on boy shorts and a sports bra before pulling Steve's shirt over my head.
"We should be used to them invading our privacy," I admitted.
"True, but they should still respect our privacy," he stated before laughing. "I forgot who we're talking about."
"I resemble that remark," Lester yelled.
I held Steve's face between my hands and thought, "JARVIS providing them with the audio feed."
Steve replied, "You're probably correct. Next time we invoke our privacy."
"Yes, and state only an Avengers assemble can override our protocol," I added. Steve moved his hands to cover mine on his face. He leaned in to kiss me. "Let's give them hell."
Steve laced our fingers together so we could exit the bedroom together. "Why was our privacy invaded? Steve asked our friends.
"Um. We wanted to make sure Beautiful was okay," Lester spoke for the group.
"Who let you into our room?" I asked, knowing Valerie, Ram, my nieces, Clint, Natasha, Darcy, Pepper, and Bucky were the only people authorized to enter our suite. I looked around the room to see Natasha, Bucky, Clint, Natasha, and the Rangeman core team.
Bucky shook his head no. When I looked at Natasha, she squared her shoulders in defence. I knew she was responsible, so I stared at her until she admitted, "I let them in. Are you happy?"
"No," Steve snapped. He was not happy our friends listened to our private moment.
"As you all can see, I'm quite fine," I said.
"You seemed angry, Beautiful," Lester said to defend himself.
"I was at that moment, but I got over it," I admitted. What can I say? I never stay mad for long.
"It's one of the many things I love about you," Steve whispered. I saw Bucky smile. He was genuinely happy for his best friend.
My spidey sense started humming. I had a feeling the children were in danger. "I know everyone wants proof I'm alright, but I think the kids are in trouble. Where are they?" I asked.
"Pepper, Darcy, the Stankovic and Gazarra families went to the zoo," Bucky stated.
"How long ago did they leave?" I asked as I pulled on cargo pants and swapped my shirt for the standard Rangeman uniform one. We would have an easier time entering the zoo if we wore our security uniforms. I noticed Ranger and his men were already appropriately dressed, including weapons.
"Two hours and twelve minutes ago," JARVIS stated.
Steve grabbed my weapons from the safe, even though I had my new abilities to use. Ranger attempted to stop me from going, but Bucky said, "Thor, Steve, Tony, and I will watch her."
"I will protect Lady Stephanie," Thor announced.
"As will I," Lady Sif announced from the suite doorway.
"What if she uses her bomb energy?" Bobby asked, concerned.
"I will use my shield," Wanda answered.
Natasha issued an Avengers assemble. Everyone ran from our suite to grab their gear. Steve gave me a body camera and said, "We need to have video evidence."
"Okay. Whatever helps the team, I'll do," I said as I attached the body camera.
Within two minutes, most of us were in the garage straddling motorcycles. We quickly attached our comm units. JARVIS linked our comm units to help us relay our positions.
Bucky ran out the door with Iron Man and Falcon flying behind him.
Thor used his hammer to carry him and Sif into position. I saw Pietro run past with Wanda in his arms.
We weaved through Manhattan to Central Park. As we closed in on the zoo, Batroc stepped into our path. He smirked as he shot at Steve. Without thinking, I sent a bomb blast towards Batroc. I saw his shocked face as he blew apart.
"Crap!" I said into Steve's back. "He made a huge mess."
"Our clean-up crew will handle it," Tony said through the comm system.
Batroc's men quickly dispersed after watching me kill their boss. Bucky, Tony, Rodney, and Falcon chased after them. Steve and I ran towards the zoo to find the kids.
Peter ran up to me, screaming, "They took Mary Al."
"Who took Mary Alice?" I asked. Peter's hand was shaking as he showed us the picture Matthew Stankovic took on his phone. "Shit. Steven Sutton has Mary Alice."