*Author's Note*
Thanks for the follows, faves, and reviews.
Sorry it took so long to update this. Work has been really busy lately.
He Calls; She Goes
Roughly Two Weeks Later
Gem POV:
After returning to Culver, most of my time was spent getting used to my new routine of classes and learning the layout of the campus. I talked to Brock a few times; texted him too, but I couldn't see him since SHIELD sent him on a long mission somewhere. The location was undisclosed, so I wasn't allowed to know where he was. It didn't bother me tho; I understood it was because security and clearance reasons that he couldn't share his whereabouts.
That just meant I had a bunch of time on my hands to get to know Darcy. She was actually pretty fun, once I got to know her. She was very random and eccentric tho, I'd give her that, but she was smart and really into pop culture and various fandoms of movies and shows. She was somebody you wanted as your partner at bar trivia night cause she knew all kinds of random things.
The only thing that had me rattled these last couple of weeks was whether or not the Plan B would work. I never really brought it up with Brock, but maybe that's cause he was away in god knows where doing only god know what for the sake of national security, but I brought it up with Darcy a few times. She kept assuring me that everything would be fine, but I was still anxious.
It was late Friday night, or early Saturday morning depending on how you looked at it, and I was fast asleep in my bed only to be woken up by my phone ringing. Ringing the ringtone that Darcy set for Brock too. With a groan, I fumbled out of bed and went over to my desk: where my phone was plugged in charging. I blinked my eyes a few times to get the sleep out of them while unplugging my phone and hitting the answer button. "Brock, ya got any idea what time it is?"
"Yea, baby, it's almost two." He told me, his voice raspy and low with exhaustion. "Sorry for waking you up, but I just got back from my mission and I don't want to go out drinking with the guys, but I don't want to go home alone either."
"You want me to hang out with you?" I asked, half asleep and a bit taken aback, as I sank down on my desk chair.
"Yea. I thought maybe we could spend the day together or something."
"You'll have to pick me up, but wouldn't you rather wait til the morning at a normal time?"
"I'm already on the road, Gem. Picking you up now isn't a big deal."
"Okay. Just call me when you get here." I relented with a sighed, but only cause he was already driving. Since he was already out, him picking me up wouldn't be too hard on him.
"Okay, baby." Brock told me before hanging up.
I put my phone on my desk and looked over my shoulder, only to see Darcy fast asleep. She was a deep sleeper; a bomb could go off and she'd sleep thru it. I didn't want to wake her, but I didn't want her to worry about me either when she woke up to find me gone. Letting out a deep sigh, I decided to wake her up. I crossed over to her side of the room, pulled her blanket off her shoulder and shook it while loudly whispering, "Darcy, wake up. Wake up."
She swatted my hand away and groaned, "What? I'm sleeping."
"Brock called, he's picking me up cause he just got back and doesn't want to be alone."
"Okay, go have fun with your jacked-boot sugar daddy."
"He's not my sugar daddy." I protested in a huff.
"But you admit he's your jacked-boot." Darcy sleepily chuckled while yanking her blanker over her head.
"Maybe." I lightly said while going over to my side of the room. Silence fell over the room, other then Darcy falling back to sleep and snoring, as I quickly packed up my overnight bag with some things. I even threw in some tampons, hoping that I'd need to use them soon. If not, well…yea…let's not go there.
After packing my bag, I unplugged my phone charger and added that to the bag before sitting at my desk; waiting for Brock to give me a call to say that he was here. While waiting, I played a game on my phone. I don't know how long I was sitting in the dark, playing on my phone (which was radiating a blue glowing light in the dark room) for until Brock's ringtone went off; causing me to jump out of my seat.
"Hey, Brock." I quickly answered my phone while standing up and slinging my overnight bag over my shoulder.
"I'm in the parking lot, baby girl." Brock told me, his voice thick and heavy with exhaustion.
"Okay, I'll be right down." I assured him before hanging up and rushing out the door, still dressed in my pjs. I did put on a pair of flipflops, so…
The ride back to Brock's was silent, mostly because we were both tired. I'm surprised he was able to keep his eyes open while driving since there were dark rings and puffy bags circling them; providing evidence of his exhaustion. I dozed off once or twice on the ride, the last time being right as we reached Norfolk. I was jerked awake by Brock turning onto his street a bit too sharply. I blinked my eyes open and stretched any kinks out of my neck. Looking at Brock, I simply stated, "We're home."
"Yea." He replied in a raspy-rough whisper, his head curly nodding.
Suddenly, the words I uttered registered in my mind and I quickly fumbled to correct my mistake. "I don't mean home like our home, I meant your home Your house, you know. I mean my home's Culver so…yea…your home."
"Calm down, baby. I don't care that you called my place home." He assured me while pulling into his driveway and cutting his Jeep's engine. "Now let's get inside and get to bed. I've got some plans for you in the morning."
"I'm still waiting on my period, so we're not fucking." I bluntly told him as we both got out of his Jeep.
I was a bit wobbly on my feet as I slung my bag over my shoulder and slammed the door shut. "I didn't say anything about fucking." He said with mock innocence as he led the way up his driveway and over to his front porch steps.
"You didn't have too, I just figured you'd wanna since we haven't fooled around in a while." I remarked, trailing behind him.
"You know, baby girl, we can fool around like we did at Frank's wedding."
"Oh my god, you would want to do that again." I blushed as the memory of us doing 69 popped into my head.
"Why not? We had fun, didn't we?" Brock rhetorically asked while opening up the door and quickly flipping on the light switch by the door before moving aside to let me in. "You can head upstairs; I'll be right behind you." He instructed as I tentatively set foot inside of his house.
"Okay." I simply said before heading over to the stairs.
I was a few stairs into my ascent up whenever I could feel his presence behind me. It was crazy how he was so sneaky-like quiet when he crossed the room to the staircase after looking the door. If it wasn't for my instincts kicking in, I doubt I would've known he was ascending the stairs too. It was crazy how his heavy boots didn't echo against his floor or the steps; how he was in stealth mode even tho it was just us in his quaint modest house. A house that was blue on the outside and beige on the inside with leather living room furniture. It was simple, but the décor suited him.
"My room's the first door on the right, Gem." Brock blearily instructed, breaking the silence that was hanging in the air between us. I didn't say a word, just nodded before going to the door he told me was his. "You can just hit the bed, baby. I'm gonna take a quick shower, then join you." He told me as I opened the door and walked inside of his room.
"Okay." I told him, dropping my bag somewhere by the door without even bothering to turn on the light.
As I trudged over to his bed, in the dark might I add, we entered the room and shut the door. As I crawled into bed, I heard the heavy sound of his work mission duffel hitting the floor as he dropped it. "Don't worry about being asleep when I join you in bed. It won't upset me, okay, baby girl."
"Okay." I sleepily nodded against his pillow while pulling the blankets up around my shoulders. As I drifted off to sleep, I faintly heard him cross the room over to his master bat suite.
Brock POV:
I knew she'd be out like a light as soon as her head hit my pillow. She was drifting in and out of sleep as I drove us here. Truthfully, I guess I shouldn't have wakened her up in the middle of the night for her to come spend some time with me, but I was selfish and wanted to see her. We had a good arrangement going on or at least I wanted it to stay a good thing between us. We were also friends; friends spend time together after rough workdays so technically me picking her up in the middle of the night could be accounted for as that. Goddamnit, did I have a rough mission while I was away too.
I hated missions where I had to kill one of my own team and make it look like a sniper shot done by an enemy while also having to go put down said enemy. Damnit, when somebody questioned whether HYDRA was right; whether we were doing good by our deeds, Pierce wanted them gone. I just hated it when the person he wanted gone for being on the fence about our doctrine was one of mine. It was fucking hard for me to get rid of one of my teammates. Of course, I did it cause it had to be done, but that doesn't mean it was easy.
Usually after a mission I'd go to The Red Snake (a HYDRA bar) and have a few drinks with my team, but I couldn't do that tonight. I just didn't feel right drinking and bullshitting after having to dispose of one of our own. Fuck, Tulle would get his head all mixed up and start questioning HYDRA's doctrine; the order and safety we wanted to bring upon the world. Fuck, the kid recruited straight out of his SEALS class. He seemed very dedicated to the doctrine; seemed eager to help change the world. Eh, or at least he did before he started dating one of those Wall Street protestor types, Sheila. Fucking bitch, had him questioning and rethinking everything HYDRA stood for. Pierce heard those questions, and he didn't like it. He wanted the cancer cut out of my STRIKE Alpha Team before it could spread and poison any other members.
Usually getting rid of an organization member that had doubts, questions, or could pose a threat to what our mission state mate was didn't bother me, but something about that kid…I guess I was bothered because he was so young; was only a few years older than the girl that I currently had sleeping in my bed. The girl that I wanted to bring into HYDRA. Fuck, I guess I was afraid of the what if of Gem not accepting the HYDRA doctrine or accepting it only to later question it, since that was usually a deadly combination.
Guess I just wanted to spend some time with Gem in order to forget the hard mission I just came back from, to feel an ounce of humanity since right now I felt like a mindless soldier that had to do what was best for the overall mission of his organization. To being order to the chaos; to bring peace to the world and create a new world older.
The hot water fell over my aching muscles, soothing me and helping to cleanse my mind. I just stood in the shower, my arms braced against the cool shower tiles and my head bent as the water washed over me. My hair was soaked, and pieces were stuck to my forehead as I just stood there, letting the hot water pelt down on me.
After some time, I turned off the shower and stepped out. I grabbed a towel from the rack and quickly dried off before leaving the bathroom and joining Gem in bed. She was fast asleep as I pressed myself up against her in a spooning position. I wrapped an arm around her waist, splaying my hand over her lower belly, before laying my head on my pillow and closing my eyes.
It didn't take long before I fell into a deep sleep.
*A Few Hours Later…*
"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Gem screamed at the top of her lungs, causing me to instantly wake up.
"What's wrong, baby?" I asked, startled, as I tossed my blanket off and scrambled out of bed.
"The Plan B worked!" Gem happily exclaimed from the bathroom.
"Oh…" I sighed, realizing that her period came. Great, looks like we won't be fooling around this weekend. "Are you going to need anything like chocolate and tampons?" I asked, sitting on the side of my bed buck naked.
"I have some tampons in my bag. You don't have to take me to the store for anything." Gem told me before quickly adding in, "Can you grab me one, if you don't mind?"
"Sure." I simply told her. Standing up and going over to her overnight bag, which was by my door, I assured her, "I don't mind taking out to buy anything you might need. I insisted you hang out with me; at least I can do is make sure you're comfortable."
"Okay, I guess we can go buy some stuff." Gem told me as I made my way over to the bathroom. "I need to go on the University clinic site and make an appointment for birth control."
"I advise you to make the appointment for Friday." I told her, entering the bathroom only to see Gem sitting on the toilet. Handing her over the slim Tampax Pearl package, I explained my previous remarked with, "You should be done with your lady stuff by then; I'll be able to get the day off too since I'm my boss' protégé."
"You're really going to go to my birth control appointment with me?" She asked incredulously as her fingertips brushed over mine as she took the tampax from me.
"Yea." I nodded before walking out of the bathroom to leave Gem alone to do whatever she needed to do.
Gem POV:
I was sitting at Brock's tiny kitchen island, eating a gluten-free chocolate chip pancake smothered in some really expensive all-natural maple syrup while watching Brock make more pancakes in his underwear. Oh my god, did his butt look good in those black boxer briefs. I let out a tiny giggle while snapping a photo and texting it to Darcy with the caption of: He's cooking breakfast. Oh and you're not gonna be an 'Auntie'.
"You ogling my ass while I'm cooking, baby girl?"
"No. I'm texting Darcy that you're cooking."
"Hmm…" Brock hummed. Flipping over the pancake in his frying pancake, he quipped, "And ogling my ass."
"Well, it does look good in black boxer briefs."
A ping went off, alerting me to a new text message. Quickly, I opened Darcy's reply of: Holy shitballs! Sugar Daddy Jack-boot wears the same underwear Billy does.
I broke out in an uncontrollable fight of giggles that turned into a bough of laughter as Brock came over to the kitchen island, plating the pancake onto my plate. "What's so funny, baby?" He asked, turning back to the stove to cook his own pancakes.
"I sent Darcy a picture of you cooking and she says you wear the same underwear Billy does." I explained while Brock poured some batter into the skillet.
"Fuck, the shenanigans are already starting." Brock chuckled, holding a spatula while looking at me from over his shoulder. Turning his attention back to his pancake pan, he knowingly remarked, "You're going to become best friends. Like sisters with how things are going."
"Yea, I guess." I shrugged.
"Take from someone who knows about this shit. You've just made yourself a lifelong friend with your dorm roomie."
My phone pinged, alerting me to a new text from Darcy. I opened it, only to shake my head. Her text read: Can you bring home his home cooking when you get back from your weekend hookup?
"Darcy wants me to bring back some leftovers."
"Oh, so now I'm cooking for your roomie this weekend too?" Brock asked, depositing a pancake on his place. "Make sure she knows it's diet food."
"I think she knows that. Remember, I explained to her your paleo/keto eating habits when we were at the wedding." I reminded Brock while watching him pour another helping of batter in his pan in order to make a second pancake.
"So, you two are tired of eating mess hall food then?"
Mess hall food? Is he talking about cafeteria food? He must be. "It's okay. We got food bucks cards that come preloaded with monthly funds for 3-meals a day. Why?"
"If you want, I can always get you a mini fridge and crockpot for you and Darcy's dorm. You'd be able to cook some stuff." Brock offered before quickly adding in, "I hear a lot of college students keep those in their dorms."
"Let me ask Darcy what she thinks. I don't want to get something that takes up space without her input."
"Yea, text her and let me know what she says." Brock gestured to my phone with a waved on his hand while setting his plate down on the breakfast bar and taking a seat next to me.
I quickly sent Darcy a text of: Brock wants to get me a mini fridge and crockpot, so we don't have to eat cafeteria food all the time. You in?
"I asked her, just gotta wait for her reply." I informed Brock, setting my phone down.
"Even if she says no, I'm getting you the mini fridge and the crockpot."
"I'll repay you when I can. I'm sure my uncle won't mind me taking a couple hundred dollars out of the account he has for my college stuff if I explain it's for some dorm stuff you helped me get."
"Don't worry about it, baby. I got enough money to cover the cost for you. Besides, it's not like I usually have anybody to spend money on, so just humor me and let me buy you some dorm shit."
"Okay." I nodded, shoving a forkful of pancake into my mouth right as my phone dinged with a new text alert.
I put down my fork, picked up my phone, and opened Darcy's reply of: Have him throw in a microwave and a coffee pot too and it's a deal.
AN:
I know, this was a filler chapter, but it kind of sets up some stuff for the next chapter. Hope you guys liked it.