Chapter Five

I say that we're right in the heart of it

A love only we understand

I will bend every light in this city

And make sure they're shining on you

If only New York wasn't so far away

I promise the city won't get in our way

When you're scared and alone,

Just know that I'm already home

When life takes its own course

Sometimes we just don't get to choose

I'd rather be there next to you

Promise you'll wait for me, wait for me

Wait 'til I'm home

Already Home by A Great Big World

Steve tied his trainers and stood up straight before grabbing his ankle and stretching his muscles. It was rare that he pulled anything but it was better safe than sorry; Carter had told him that stretching before running was more dangerous but it was an ingrained habit.

The streetlights were still on when he hit the sidewalk. Other than the electric buzz of the streetlights and the occasional car slowly driving past, he was left to himself. Steve took advantage of the light traffic to run - actually run - and didn't worry about what his speed looked like. S.H.I.E.L.D. had tested him when he woke up and he'd gone a mile in 73 seconds. While he didn't reach that pace, he did move at what others would consider a sprint.

The DC monuments were still lit up as he started to push himself. It was easier to do that here. In New York he constantly had to worry about early morning runners and people stumbling back from the bars in the early morning gloom. The Washington Memorial looked more like a skyscraper with all of the scaffolding put up, and he always appreciated how the Capitol building looked all lit up.

The stress and tension of the last few days were pounded out on the pavement, and Steve found his thoughts drifting from work and to home as he ran. While he didn't like listening to music when running, he always kept his phone with him and a quick glance at the clock showed him that Emily's alarm would be going off in about 30 minutes and that JARVIS had just started the coffee pot. As the Air and Space museum flashed by, he made up his mind to call her after her alarm sounded.

He sprinted around the National Mall twice more before taking a break and sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The sun was just starting to come up, the sky turning from inky blue to violet, when Steve pulled the phone from his pocket and dialed Em's number.

"Morning," her sleepy voice drifted across the line after ringing twice. Steve smiled, picturing her in their bed, her hair a mess and her eyes still closed against the inevitable morning. His fingers flexed, wishing they were closing over her hips.

"Morning. Sleep well?"

"Hmmm," she hummed non-committally and he heard the rustling of sheets. The line went quiet for half a minute before he chuckled.

"Emily?"

"Hmm?"

"There's coffee waiting for you in the kitchen."

"Already had a cup."

"You…" Steve frowned and pulled the phone away from his ear to look at the time. "How long have you been up?"

"A while," she yawned. "I'm not thrilled with how these true/false questions are worded and I don't want any debates with my students after the exam."

"Ah," he said, hearing the lie in her voice. "Want to run it by me?"

"I've got to start getting ready." He heard the sheets move again as she spoke followed by a soft grunt as she stretched. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Running."

"Have you hit 100 miles yet?"

"Almost," Steve chuckled.

"Slacker," she teased before yawning again. "Anything fun planned for the day?"

"Not really, just work. You?"

"I have a riveting day of educating young minds and grading ahead of me. I know, you're jealous."

"Very jealous."

"So what's on your mind?"

"Nothing." Her huff of disbelief made the corner of his mouth twitch before he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Everything."

"I'll need more explanation. Talk while I get rid of my coffee breath."

And so he did. He told her about his frustrations with how long it was taking the analysts to get back on the barrel markings of the bullet extracted from Carter's neck - and Carter was throwing a fit about not being discharged yet and his debriefing hadn't yielded much additional information. He groaned about the scene analysis reports, and why he wasn't sure that they gotten it right because it would have been nearly impossible to make that shot from the distance they said. Steve had the reports forwarded to Clint - who was still in the Middle East - to get his opinion on it, as he was the best sniper he knew. He scrubbed a hand through his hair while recounting about the dressing down Fury had given him for letting her come, and got a bit choked up when telling her about his phone call with the fallen agents families.

"I'm so sorry, babe," Emily sighed, her voice getting closer as she took the phone off speaker. They were quiet for a long moment as Steve hid his face in his hand. "I don't….that couldn't have been easy. But I know they appreciated hearing from you. It would have meant a lot."

"Can you just talk to me about something else?" he asked. "What's been going on at home?"

"Not much," she said after a moment's pause. He knew she still struggled with telling him about what was going on with her when he had a lot on his plate at work, like she couldn't complain about mundane things because they weren't 'as bad' as what he was dealing with. But, in all actuality, hearing about how normal her days were helped keep him sane, reminded him of what he had to go home to. "The realtor called to see what we thought of the house."

"Oh."

"Yeah. She said something about getting the spare key back and I told her that I'd get it to her as soon as I could, so I think I'll head over there after work."

"Thanks."

"No worries. I told her we'd email a few new specs about the houses we would be interested in buying. Oh! And we're getting ready for Darcy, Jane, and Thor to get here, so that's fun."

"Damn it," Steve groaned. "That was this week, wasn't it?"

"This weekend."

"I'll see if I can get home for a few days. Are you going to be okay if I can't?"

"They're moving on their own floor, and between Thor and Tony the heavy lifting will be taken care of. And, if you recall, you already introduced me to Thor on Skype a few weeks ago."

"Still…"

"Stop worrying! Nothing is going to happen, mon coeur. We can handle a little move."

Shaking his head, Steve switched subjects. "Are you staying off your ankle?"

There was a soft chuckle, "Yes, Steve, I'm using my crutches and everything."

"You're elevating it? You should keep it above your heart - "

"I am. And I'm wearing the cast, before you ask."

"Good."

"Alright, well I'm going to let you go. My ride will be here in a bit and I still have to get dressed. Call me later?"

"Okay," Steve said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He expected to say goodbye, but she hesitated a moment, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Do something to get this off your mind. You...you're obsessing and it's not healthy. There's got to be something else that you can do while waiting for the reports to come in." Steve opened his mouth to protest that he wasn't obsessing, that he was simply doing what he needed to do, but closed it and shook his head, rubbing his fingers across his forehead.

"I will, I promise."

"Okay. Call me if you're bored or need anything."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you, too." He clicked the call end button and looked at the phone for a moment before turning it in his hand. After flipping it once, Steve stood and shoved it in his pocket before jogging down the steps. Another 4-mile circuit and the run back to the apartment would help clear his head before going into the office.

"On your left," Steve said as he passed another early morning runner.

OOO

Emily glanced at her two newest students as she propped herself up against the lectern. It shouldn't have surprised her that Steve made sure agents were with her at all times from the minute she stepped off the jet in West Point. And she found it a bit hard to be annoyed when they gave her a ride to work so she was able to avoid the subway and went out of their way to be as unobtrusive as they could. The only time it was really grating was when she came out of the bathroom to see one of them making a loop around the floor to make sure no one accosted her.

Her TA was walking around to make sure that no one was cheating on the test, leaving Em to her thoughts. With a sigh, she pushed off the lectern and moved to sit in one of the two chairs shoved under the table holding the extra tests. With a hint of a smirk, she put her foot on the other, remembering Steve's insistence that morning that she elevate her ankle.

The first pains of a headache were shooting across her temples, and Em rubbed them in an attempt to stave it off. She'd left her aspirin in her office but the cold Diet Coke was sweating on the table, and Ryan had promised to bring her a chocolate bar over lunch. Her tried and true headache cure would work until she got home and hopefully got some sleep. The last few nights she'd tossed and turned before falling asleep, only to wake up with a strangled cry and lashing out at the monster in her dreams. JARVIS had started turning the bedroom lights on low so that when she woke up, Emily knew exactly where she was.

Resting her elbow on the table, Emily cradled her head in her hand, hiding her grimace from her students. They'd been curious about the scabs her makeup failed to hide and the crutches but she'd explained it away with a simple car accident excuse. A small part of her had wanted to tell them what had actually happened, just so that someone else would know about her hellish weekend, but then realized that 1) it was probably extremely classified and 2) they would laugh it off as an imaginative excuse for bad driving.

Besides, she had Pepper to talk to - or she would have, had the other woman not been off at some long scheduled Board of Executives retreat. Tony had managed to escape it by begging off with the excuse of still recovering from major cardiothoracic surgery. When Em had asked Pepper about his recovery over drinks, she'd rolled her eyes and said that Tony was perfectly fine and had gotten the clearance from his doctors to return to his normal activities but that wouldn't keep him from using the surgery as a handy 'get out of meetings free' card.

And Jane and Darcy would be here soon. After what had happened in Greenwich, they'd been more than happy to take up Stark Industries on its employment offer - Darcy as part-time so she could have some income while going to school. From what Emily gleaned from her conversations with Darce, the UK government wasn't too upset to see them go and neither was Jane's mother. Given that Darcy, Jane, Thor, and Jane's mentor Erik Selvig had been living in her flat, Emily couldn't quite fault her on that - sometimes even the Tower seemed like it was too small for both Tony and Steve when they'd gotten into an argument. It was hard to imagine what it would be like with all of them there.

So there were things for her to look forward to, things to distract her from Steve's being gone. And at night, when it was harder to forget that he wasn't there and too easy to remember the man from the cemetery, she filled his side of the bed with work to be done and forced herself to focus on what she could control.

Emily was already contemplating over the counter sleeping aids.

"This okay?" a hushed voice asked. Em started, banging her elbow on the table and swearing under her breath as a jolt of pain shot up her arm. There were a few titters of laughter from the students, and the boy in front of her rolled his lips together to keep from joining them. "Sorry," he said, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips, "didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," Em grunted, holding out her hand for his test. "Thanks."

"When are we going to get the grades back?"

"Next week." He jerked a nod before shouldering his backpack and walking out of the room. Emily flipped through the exam before putting it aside, her eyes darting across the room. One of the agents - a newly minted Specialist fresh from the Academy, as he'd told her on Monday - was looking at her before Kyle, the TA, cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. The agent gave an unimpressed look and glancing back at her, rolled his eyes slightly before looking down at his test. Em pressed her lips together against a snicker; the two agents hadn't been expecting to take the test but it would have looked strange for two people to be sitting in the room and not taking the exam.

"Kyle," Emily said as he made a pass in front of the classroom half an hour into the class.

"Yeah, Dr. H?"

"I can handle the rest of this if you want to take off."

"You sure?" Kyle asked, scrubbing a hand through his beard.

"Yeah, of course. I'll put your half of the tests in your mailbox with the answer key."

"Thanks," he grinned. Once he'd grabbed his backpack, Kyle made a swift exit. There was a steady stream of students turning in their exams from that point.

When the last student handed in their test, Emily stood and shuffled the pile of papers into some sort of order. The two agents had gotten up and were making their way down to join her, their blue book exams in hand. "You'll get the grades back next week," Em teased, holding out her hand for them.

"Funny," Mark, the senior agent smirked.

"I just have office hours this afternoon and then we can leave. And I hate to ask, but would you be okay with swinging me by my realtor's office?"

"Sure," Dennis, the junior agent shrugged.

"Great. And I'll stay at the Tower for the rest of the evening, so please don't feel like you need to hang around." Mark and Dennis shared a look before shrugging.

"Any ideas for lunch?"

"I've got plans, but we can order something for you guys." The agents usually took up residence in the reading room down the hall from her office. From there, they could see everyone coming in and out of her office and assess their threat level. "There's a really good Tex-Mex place that delivers. My treat."

"Work expense," Mark shrugged. "S.H.I.E.L.D. will pick up the expense."

"My treat," Em repeated before smirking. "Well, actually...Steve's treat."

"I could do that," Dennis grinned. "He still owes us a few beers for picking up this detail."

"Once he gets back, I'll make sure he pays that debt. But for now, we'll call lunch cashing in on the interest."

"Deal."

OOO

Got called out. Out of cell reception for a while. Will call when I'm back, but it may be a day or two. Stay safe, love you.

Steve reviewed his text message before hitting the send button. Natasha glanced over at him before her eyes snapped back to the road as her Corvette wove through traffic. "Letting the Em know?"

"Yup," Steve said, propping his elbow up on the window and watching Washington DC flash by. When his phone buzzed, he quickly pulled up her response.

Biggest threats so far: boredom and paper cuts. Possibly students unhappy with grades they're going to get. Threat assessment: low. Be careful and I'll hopefully talk to you soon =) Love you!

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he lifted his hips off the seat and tucked the phone into his pocket. When he looked over at Nat, she rolled her eyes in his direction while pressing the brakes as they neared an intersection. "What?"

"She's good for you."

"I'd like to think so," he said. Her eyes twitched slightly, as though she were biting back her next comment; with anyone else, he might call it a tell, but he knew that Natasha Romanov was very deliberate with every movement and there was no way she'd let a simple muscle twitch give away anything. "Say it."

"Don't let this life ruin hers." Steve frowned and turned his gaze away to look out at the pedestrians crossing in front of them, unable to meet Natasha's eyes boring into him. "She didn't ask for this, and it's always the innocent that pay the price." Unable to think of anything to say, he jerked a nod.

Apparently satisfied, Nat turned her attention back to the road, zipping between cars that were too slow for her speed. A half smile curved her mouth when she followed up with, "Clint wanted to know if you'd seen what the Smithsonian put up about him when you broke into the exhibit."

"No, why?"

"I think he's afraid that they'll find out that he was with the circus. Although, it does explain a lot of his behaviors. And the purple."

Steve barked a laugh. The last time he'd asked Clint about the purple on his uniform, the man had rolled his eyes and replied with, "Right, Flag Man, like I need to be questioned by Uncle Sam."

OOO

"And lunch is - what the hell happened to you?" Ryan demanded as he shouldered her office door open. A drink tray was balanced in one hand while a bag holding their sandwiches dangled from the other.

"Wha?" she asked before a hand shot up for push her glasses further up her nose.

"What happened?" he asked again, putting the drinks and sandwiches down on a clear corner of her desk before throwing his bag into one of the chairs and circling around to stand next to her. He kept himself from grabbing her face and examining the injuries, and instead gestured to his face before glancing at the crutches propped up against the wall.

"Oh. Car accident," she said while beginning to clear her desk. As she spun to place the small batch of graded exams on the desk behind her, Ryan scoffed while leaning against her floor-to-ceiling bookshelf.

"I know what car accident injuries look like," he snarled. "This? Not them."

"I think you've been at the coroner's office too much," Em tried to keep her tone light. "These? Very typical injuries for a non-fatal crash. Some guy ran a stop sign and hit my car - end of story." Ry gave her an unconvinced look and opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "End. Of. Story."

"Why do I feel like Steve was involved with this?"

"He wasn't, he was busy with work. Ryan," she pleaded, feeling her head give a particularly nasty throb, "please, just drop it and let's have lunch."

"Just...Is this what you were talking about? Before?"

"Before?" she sighed, grabbing the sandwiches and trying to figure out what one was hers.

"When...you tried to tell me how it was with him before. You said you got knocked around because of his work." Frowning, she tried to recall that conversation before her eyebrows shot up. That had been the night Steve had come back and they agreed to give their relationship another chance. It was the closest she'd ever gotten to revealing exactly what it was like dating a superhero (and Steve hated that title) to a civilian.

Emily hesitated. She loved that she got to have a normal friendship with Ryan, even though there was still some residual awkwardness when it came to their respective relationships. Steve wouldn't admit it but he always got this tight expression when she mentioned her weekly lunches with Ryan, and she tried to steer conversations away from their dating lives. But still, Ry was one of her first friends at ESU and had been there for her when Steve wasn't. "If I tell you, will you drop it?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"'Yes' this has something to do with his work?"

"Yes, now please, Ryan, I'm begging you - drop it."

"I still don't see why you have anything to do with Homeland Security. You're a historian, for Christ's sake."

"Ryan!" Em snapped, rubbing her temples. He sighed and adjusted the frames of his glasses before swiping a strand of hair out of his face. And then, smirking, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Twix candy bar.

"Forgive me?" he asked, holding it out to her.

"You're getting there," she chuckled, trading him his sandwich for the candy. After taking another round of aspirin, she asked him about work and he dove into a story about his latest case with the NYPD.

OOO

"Hey!" Darcy grinned, raising both her hands to wave as the Skype call connected.

"Hi," Em smiled. "How's it going?"

"Good, just doing the last minute packing. Thor! Thor, say hi to Em."

"Hello," the blonde god of Thunder said, ducking to look in the camera as he passed behind the couch.

"Hi," Em replied, wiggling her fingers at him.

"Is the good Captain with you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking around the small area the camera showed. "I have much I would like to discuss with him."

"No, Steve got held up in DC with work," she frowned, reaching for her phone. "Or he was in DC. He sent me a text about being out of cell range for a while today but he should be easier to get tomorrow or on Friday...probably Friday. Is everything okay?" Darcy turned to look at Thor as well, and he shook his head before giving them both a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. According to Jane, he hadn't been quite his boisterous self since their adventures in Asgard. And, while Em felt bad for anyone who was grieving a loved one, she found it difficult to care about Loki's death.

"All is well. I merely wished to speak to my brother in arms."

"Okay," Em nodded. "I'll let him know you're trying to reach him."

"Thank you, Emily," Thor said, bowing slightly. "I shall see you very soon."

"Only a couple more days!" Darcy beamed, bouncing slightly on the couch as Thor graced her with another smile before walking out of the camera range. Em could hear Jane's muted voice in the background.

"Yay!" Em laughed. "I can't wait until you guys get here. Pepper's made sure that everything's in place and Tony's had a lab cleared out for Jane."

"Awesome. That's actually why I'm calling."

"Yeah?"

"Ok, so Jane's kind of particular about who touches her stuff," Darce rolled her eyes. "And you know Stark - "

"Mr. 'Don't Touch My Stuff But I Can Touch Yours'?"

"Yup. Anyways, is there any way you can run interference and keep him from unpacking Jane's stuff? Just until we get there and then Jane will take over. And she's got a big blonde bouncer to help out."

"I'll do what I can, but you know Tony."

"Exactly," Darcy sighed, rolling her eyes.

"When's everything supposed to get here, anyways?" The younger woman glanced at the clocked at the corner of her screen before rolling her eyes to the ceiling as she figured out the time difference.

"Tomorrow afternoon? It is Wednesday there, right?"

"Yeah. So I have to keep Tony from Jane's stuff for three days?"

"Two and a half," Darcy smirked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Totally do-able."

"Right," Em rolled her eyes. "I'll do my best."

"Gracias! Now, onto the important stuff - what happened to your face? It's very Edward Scissorhands."

"It's not that bad," Em rolled her eyes. "But I can't exactly say over the Internet, but it's the reason Steve's not here and - "

"Hey Em!" Jane grinned, popping into the background.

"Hey, Jane," Emily smiled. "I already promised to keep Tony from your stuff."

"You're the best!"

"You owe me a bottle of wine or a case of beer."

"Bottle of tequila?" Darce suggested.

"You bring the booze, I'll supply the snacks," Em nodded.

"Agreed. Now go away so we can discuss political science," Darcy made a shooing motion at Jane who rolled her eyes.

"It's not a real science," she muttered.

"It's not supposed to be!" Em and Darcy protested.

"I'm going to like having your around," Darcy chuckled.

"You are going to give me the syllabi for your classes, right?" Em asked.

"Dude, you should just sign up for my classes. You get free tuition at ESU 'cause you teach there, right? Get a Master's degree!"

Emily sighed and looked over her stack of tests to grade, the email notifications in the tab behind the Skype screen, and articles grad students had asked her to review prior to being sent out for publication before sighing and pushing her glasses to the top of her head. "Right, like I've got the time for that."

OOO

"Tony! I swear to god!" Em hissed as she tried to keep up with the manic pace he set. He skirted around tables and crates holding Jane's equipment, the clicks and whorls of the 2 robots following him loud in the relative quiet of Jane's lab. The lab she'd expressly forbidden him to go into without Jane or Darcy, which had been reinforced by his loving - yet exasperated - fiancée.

Less than thrilled at having been woken from the first real restful sleep she'd had in a while, Emily hurried after him. The plastic padding of the crutches was rubbing painfully against her exposed arms; she'd grabbed one of Steve's undershirts in her mad scramble for clothes and it did little to protect her against it. Still, she looked like she'd gotten more sleep than Tony who, with Pepper out of town, had lapsed back into a frenzied building stage. Having been preoccupied with her own problems, Emily had forgotten her promise to Pepper to check in on him regularly - although JARVIS had given her updates on how long he'd been in the lab. When he'd hit 10 consecutive hours, Pepper had called and ordered him to get out and go relax.

Which was why they'd had a very nice steak dinner delivered (Emily was sure that that particular steakhouse didn't deliver, but didn't dare ask how much Tony had thrown his notoriety around to get it done) and enjoyed it on the balcony over a delicious bottle of wine. When she'd left him only a few hours before, Tony had assured her that he was going to go to bed but surprise! That apparently hadn't happened.

"Inventory, Harthorn! I signed saying everything was here, now I need to make sure I didn't miss anything," he said, testing the weight of the crowbar in his hand.

"Can't this wait until the morning?" she sighed, propping herself up against a table and gently running her finger over an irritation mark forming on her arm.

"I'm awake now," he shrugged, tapping one of the crates with the crowbar. When he moved to wedge the flat end between the nails, Emily jumped up.

"Hey! Knock it off!" she snapped. "Jane wants to arrange her stuff when she gets here, and you're going to leave her shit alone until then, got it?"

Tony cocked an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile. "That work on your students?"

"My preteen nephews," she scowled. "Now, put the crowbar down and go back up to the penthouse. Jane will be here in two days so you can play with her toys then."

"Fine, fine," Tony smirked. "Night cap?"

"No. Some of us have work in the morning."

"All work and no play, Harthorn!"

"Sleep, Tony." He grinned waved the crowbar towards the door, bowing slightly.

"Lead the way."

"Right, like I'd fall for that. Go," she motioned for him to precede him.

"Fine, fine," Tony sighed dramatically before taking a step in front of her. He twirled the crowbar between his hands and whistling what sounded like Black Sabbath.

When there was a crash behind them, Emily turned to see that one of the robots had run into a crate, rattling whatever had been in it. It twirled its claw and made a beeping sound, followed by a crack in front of her. "Tony!" she snapped, having turned to see him prying one of the crates open. "Leave it alo - "

POP.

The wood creaked as nails pulled away. Em hurried towards him, yelling at him to leave it alone as he circled around to the other side and dug the flat edge between the boards and started to pry it open. "Might want to get out of the way," he warned as she nails started to give.

"You fucking child," she snapped, losing her temper with him completely. "I really don't know how Pepper puts up with you."

"Wonder that every day," he grunted, jerking the bar again.

"Just leave the shit alone! For Christ's sake!" She jumped when the lid fell forward and crashed to the ground. Tony tossed the pry bar onto the table and started to dig through the packing material.

There was a high-pitched electronic sound and a red light was suddenly shining through the cushioning. "Shit," he muttered, shifting away from it.

Emily scowled and opened her mouth to say something when a beam of light shot out and hit her in the chest just as Tony flung out an arm to pull her out of the way.

His fingers closed around air, and the crutches fell to loudly to the floor.

Author's Note: What?! Two updates in a month? Lol. Life's been a bit hectic recently (wisdom teeth removal, moving, last day at work, interviewing for a new job, etc.) but for some reason Em and Steve cooperated with this chapter. I'm not 100% with it, as the last section was a recent edit (not how I planned on kicking off the next part of the story) but I'm getting there.

Also, how are people still finding Change is Everything?! I seem to be getting notifications for that story every day. Please, if you're a recent reader, let me know =)

As always, I hope you enjoyed this and please let me know what you think!