"I should have known I'd find you here." Travis Masterson, the President's aid, sneered to Kayla and Tiffany as they were led into the lobby of Stark Tower. When they reached him, Tiffany pushed her brown bob behind her ear and began to speak, but he cut her off, "I believe you have something of mine? Again."
Kayla reached into her back pocket of her skinny jeans and pulled out Travis's badge, and he snatched it viciously before turning and leading them out the front doors, "Your parents have been worried sick about you. Reed Richards called them as soon as you took off, and Johnny has been searching for you ever since. Your father sidelined them to protect you, and then you decided to go out on your own to chase down your obsession!"
"I'm not obsessed with him. He's very important to my research. I saw a chance, and took it!" Kayla argued as Travis opened the door to the only running car in a thirty block radius. Collecting the President's daughter gave him a lot of free rein in post-apocalyptic Manhattan. Once seated, Kayla pulled out her cell phone to see forty-three missed calls from her parents, them having taken turns calling on each of their phones in a frantic effort to get a hold of her. "I'm not a child. I can take care of myself."
"You left the safety of a super hero team to wander through New York during an alien invasion. Doesn't sound very mature to me." Travis grumbled before telling the driver to take them toward LaGuardia. "I've got the chopper waiting. Your trip is being cut short."
"But-"
"No 'buts', Miss Ellis. You're in big trouble." Travis scolded, turning to Tiffany, "And you. You know better."
"You think I can stop her? I've been in her life twenty years, if I knew how to keep her from dragging us into danger, trust me, I'd do it." Tiffany growled back, pulling out her tablet from her canvas bag. She turned to Kayla, "I'll cancel all your plans for the next few days. Realistically, they aren't happening anyway with all of this."
Kayla sighed, nodding to show her assistant she understood, "I know. I've been working so hard on the Veteran's Fundraiser, but nobody is going to show up. Lets try and see if we can move it online. With half of Manhattan in shambles, we can use it as an angle to raise money a different way for the housing."
"I'm guessing you want me to cancel your dinner reservation with Johnny tomorrow?" Tiffany pressed with a knowing smirk, knowing that the Human Torch's time as Kayla Ellis's boy toy had come to an end.
Kayla groaned, leaning her head back against the seat, "Yes, please. He's going to go to the press about the break up, I know it. It's just who he is. I don't know what he liked more, me or the publicity he got from being with me."
"Staying in the room next door, as thin as the walls were, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he enjoyed both equally." Tiffany teased and Kayla pursed her lips, feeling her cheeks tinge as Travis stared at her blankly. Tiffany cleared her throat as she canceled Kayla's schedule, "Perhaps it's a good thing we're heading back to D.C., considering you were almost double booked for tomorrow night."
Kayla smiled at that, having not even considered that she'd asked Steve Rogers to take her boyfriend's place at dinner. He was just so handsome... she hadn't expected it. Once she heard SHIELD found Captain America in the ice, she pried every bit of information she could out of anyone who knew anything, but still couldn't get a straight answer about whether he was alive. When Captain America showed up in Stuttgart the day prior, Kayla scoured the footage online from inside Johnny Storm's bathroom. She wanted to know who this Captain America was.
Perhaps they had thawed out Steve Rogers and gave him a proper burial after being frozen for six decades. The decorated war hero deserved that much. They could have recruited someone new to take up the mantle and take his name and colors, because with a self proclaimed god running around Germany and then Manhattan, the world needed someone to look up to. That was the logical explanation, and the explanation that Kayla had told herself over and over and over again.
But she didn't want to believe it.
It wasn't until she saw him survive that fall in Stark Tower that she really considered she might be right. No normal man could survive a fall like that, which meant one of two things: either Steve Rogers, World War II hero, was alive and back to the fight; or SHIELD had found a way to crack the formula for the super soldier serum and given it to somebody else.
Having spent the better part of five years trying to come up with the correct formula herself, Kayla needed to know the truth, by any means necessary.
Unfortunately for Kayla, whoever this Steve Rogers was didn't fall for her charm and promise of fame the same way most men did. The Human Torch saw her as fitting arm candy, but Captain America didn't seem to need a beautiful woman. He had a job to do.
And now, so did she.
"You could have given him your number." Tiffany said quietly, her chocolate eyes glowing in the light of her tablet as she looked up at Kayla.
Kayla sighed, feeling her phone began to buzz again in her pocket, "I know, but he didn't ask for it. I didn't want to seem desperate."
"You broke into private property just to see him up close." Tiffany argued, nodding down at Kayla's cell, "You gonna answer that."
Kayla gave Tiffany a sharp stare, then answered the call, "Hey Mom."
"Kayla Dawn Ellis, are you out of your mind? What the hell were you thinking, you could have been killed!" Sandra Ellis, First Lady of the United States, screamed into her only daughter's ear.
Kayla winced, "I'm sorry, I know, I messed up, I shouldn't have left them-"
"The World Council ordered a nuke on New York. They circumvented the head of SHIELD and your father. We called the Fantastic Four to get you out of there, but you had run away." Sandra snarled and Kayla grimaced and looked to Tiffany.
"Oh, so Iron Man wasn't just throwing a nuke into a wormhole to kill the aliens?"
"No! It was meant to wipe Manhattan off the face of the Earth to stop more aliens from attacking!" Sandra growled, her level lowering as she began to calm down. "Kayla, you could have died. You could have gotten Tiffany killed, too."
Kayla looked up at her best friend with a guilty expression and Tiffany just sighed, hearing the whole conversation, "Work for your best friend, they said. You'll make lots of money and travel the world, they said! It'll be fun, they said..."
"I'm coming home now. I messed up, and I'm sorry. But they were there. It was the Hulk and it was Captain America, and I had to know- I had to take that chance." Kayla tried to explain, but the sinking feeling in her chest reminded her that they were more important than her. Why would she think that her idol would take time out of his day to talk to her after Hulk smashing his way across Midtown? Why on Earth would Captain America, whether or not he was from the first half of the 20th Century, want to meet some politician's spoiled daughter?
"We'll see you when you get back. I haven't seen your father in hours. He'll want to speak with you when you arrive." Sandra Ellis told her daughter, her cool demeanor returning. Kayla had never heard her mother so worked up. As former CIA, nothing fazed the First Lady. But then again, aliens were new to everybody.
"I love you." Kayla said softly, and her mom reciprocated it before hanging up. Kayla looked to Tiffany with a weak smile, "I don't regret it."
"I know you don't." Tiffany sighed, putting her tablet away as they approached the airport. "Let's go home."
The sun was setting over New York City as government officials began to try and take stock of what was left of the city. The clean up crews would arrive in the morning, but the sirens wailed endlessly as night fell and the lights of Manhattan stayed off.
Nick Fury arrived at Stark Tower with Maria Hill in tow, the latter already giving her statement to the World Council about her perspective on the past forty-eight hours. Nick Fury had been in contact with the President, explaining how The World Security Council had ordered the nuke President Ellis had seen on the news to blow up Manhattan without his approval. Suddenly, the situation became very complicated when Mathew Ellis explained to Fury that not only was his daughter in Manhattan, she'd snuck her way into Stark's tower to meet Captain America and the Hulk.
"Well, this has been a fun day." Fury told the Avengers as he looked around the room, "Where's Thor?"
"He, uh, had to head out. We've had a bit of an incident..." Tony trailed off, looking to Steve to take over, but the blonde soldier just stood silently.
Fury raised his eyebrow and Natasha grumbled an explanation, "Loki managed to steal the Tesseract, then he doubled back to take the Scepter."
"So Loki took the scepter from STRIKE in the elevator, not Captain America?" Fury asked and Steve paled at the realization that he seemingly stole the scepter. Fury groaned and shifted, "I saw the footage, there's no sound, but whatever Loki told Sitwell was very convincing. They handed it over without question."
"Sir, I haven't spoken to anyone on the STRIKE team since they took the scepter from here." Steve explained loudly, embarrassed that Loki used his likeness and then played him like a fool. "He was disguised as me when I fought him. He-"
"Played some mind games with the good Captain." Tony teased, and Steve blushed at what he was insinuating. Loki played on a weakness Steve didn't realize he had, teasing him with affection and companionship, perhaps knowing somehow that his mirage would appear in the flesh once Loki finished his mission.
"So I'm assuming that's why the President's Daughter found Captain America knocked out on a pile of glass?" Fury turned to stare at Steve, "Heard you made quite an impression, since she left the Fantastic Four to find you."
"Who?" Steve asked quietly, unfamiliar with whoever Fury was talking about. "Loki appeared as Miss Ellis to distract me, then when he took the Scepter he transformed into me to fight. He got the upper hand."
"So what I'm hearing is that Earth's Mightiest Heroes spent all afternoon battling an alien army, only to be thwarted by a skinny-ass magician because he distracted you with a pretty face?" Fury bit back and Clint shrugged, seeming to think that explanation fit pretty well. "So Thor's going after his brother."
"He told us to wait. Said he'd be in contact if he needed us." Steve answered quickly, but Fury wasn't having any of his excuses.
"Since you all felt the need to go and fuck this all up, I feel the need to make you deal with the fallout of today's battle. Starting with a trip to D.C. to speak with the President. He wants to do some interviews and assure the country that it was not his intention to blow up Manhattan. Seeing as you stopped that, Stark, he would like your first hand account of what happened." Fury explained, looking to Maria Hill expectantly with his one good eye.
"We'll fly you out in the morning, the President is putting you all up in The Jefferson, near the White House. There was talk about a dinner, but I think his cabinet decided it would be better to keep it small. It should be great press for all parties involved. Despite saving New York, we also caused a lot of damage." Maria Hill said, shooting Bruce an accusatory stare. Bruce simply shrugged. "The public is scared. Not only about what happened, but also about you guys. They don't understand what The Avengers are, so we want to get off on the right foot. President Ellis has only been in office a few months, so this will garner good favor with the American people."
"Plus, then Cap can keep his dinner date after all." Tony teased, but Steve continued to stare ahead, not showing any emotion at Stark's jesting.
Despite his hard exterior, Steve was internally freaking out, because Tony was right. He was going to see Kayla Ellis again. Meeting the President didn't faze him, but having that beautiful woman put her eyes on him again might just melt whatever part of his heart was still stuck in the ice.
"Stark, get the team to D.C. by ten a.m. please." Fury said as he turned and swept away with Maria Hill hot on his trail, leaving the Avengers and going back to his chopper outside the glass.
Once Fury was gone, Banner turned to Stark and Steve, "I don't like this, I don't belong anywhere near the President of the United States. I don't want to talk to anybody about The Other Guy, especially not the US government."
"Then we won't let them talk to you, Bruce." Natasha said simply, offering the doctor a sweet smile, "It's okay. We'll make sure you stay calm."
"I agree with the Doc, this doesn't sound like fun." Clint grumbled, plopping back down onto one of Tony's expensive chairs by the bar. He poured himself another glass and drank it, looking between the members of the Avengers to gauge their thoughts.
Tony clapped his hands together and gave them all a look once, "Listen, if we don't get ahead of this, the government gets control of us. We don't want anyone thinking we are a threat. Those Fantastic blue costumed clowns downtown? They've been working hand in hand with the government from day one, and that's why they aren't governed by anyone but themselves." Tony looked to Steve, hoping the Captain would understand where he was going, "If we play ball with the new President, we could keep our freedom. When someone calls to arrest the Hulk, who is gonna go to bat for you? SHIELD? Fury? Maybe, if they need you, but what if they don't?"
Bruce twisted his hands together nervously when Tony turned to him, "This is why I don't want any part of it, I want to go back into the shadows, I was happy there, and I didn't have to worry about-"
"Exactly! Because you don't want to have to worry about someone coming to make you do something you don't want to do, but what if you had the President in your corner?" Tony turned to Natasha and Clint, "Two deadly assassins, one of whom isn't from America, what happens when your past comes to light? Who has the power to make sure you aren't incarcerated for your crimes against America?"
"SHIELD keeps everything under tight wraps, I'm not too worried about it. It's called defecting for a reason, I knew I was on the wrong side." Natasha answered confidently, but Tony just shrugged.
"You keep telling yourself that, but you knew that SHIELD brought Rogers, Banner, and I onboard to the Avengers Initiative knowing full well they were keeping their intentions from us. Who's to say they aren't keeping secrets from you, too?"
"And what is schmoozing with the President going to change about that?" Clint called from his seat at the bar, and Tony smiled grandly and turned to point at Steve with both hands.
"Why, thank you for asking, Barton, let me explain." Tony cooed and Steve took a step back, bumping into the couch with his calves as Tony approached him, "See, somebody very close to the President has taken interest in our dear Captain America. Someone with more power over him than anyone else in his cabinet. Because if Daddy's Little Girl asks Ellis to do something, he won't say no. All we have to do is get her on our side."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Steve asked, his Addams Apple bobbing as he swallowed because he already knew what Tony's answer would be.
Tony grinned up at Steve, "You know exactly what you have to do."
"And what if I don't want that?" Steve growled back, sidestepping Tony to stand against the bar with Clint. He looked out the shattered windows, imagining how pretty this view would be if the world hadn't almost crashed down today. Steve stiffened his jaw as he heard Tony approaching from the side, "I'm not going to use her to get to her father."
"You aren't using her, you're giving her exactly what she wants! She wants to go out with you. You go to dinner, you talk, you walk her home, and kiss her goodnight and then I can talk business deals with her dad. He'll be so happy that his infamous daughter had such a great time with the upstanding citizen that is Captain America." Tony gestured around the room, waiting for someone to agree with him. Bruce and Clint stayed silent.
Natasha, on the other hand, scoffed loudly at his plan, "Cap's right, Stark, she'll see right through your plan. Kayla Ellis is a very intelligent young woman. She's accomplished for her age and you can't bank on her sex life saving your ass next time you do something stupid. That nuke could have been our call instead of the Council's. We're just lucky we cleaned up the mess instead of started it." Natasha warned, looking over to Steve who nodded thankfully. She smiled a little, her shoulders rising in a small shrug, "That being said, if you want to go out with her, now is the time."
"Look, all I'm saying is she was in New York when the Council ordered to blow up Manhattan. We saved his daughter's life, and we are getting the first chance to get on his good side. Could be an easy four years or a hard four years. Buying the most sought after woman in America dinner won't kill you, Rogers." Tony said as he stretched, "It's been a long couple of days, and we're supposed to leave early? I'm all for sleeping on the Stark jet and waking up at ten in D.C., what about you all?"
"Goodnight, Tony." Natasha called loudly as Tony stumbled to the elevator over the broken pieces of glass that littered the floor. Pepper was working non-stop with Stark Industries investors to set up a relief fund in the aftermath of the battle. Getting some political backing wouldn't hurt the team either.
"Stark's got the right idea." Clint yawned and slid off his bar stool, "I've got to make a phone call, but then I'm hitting the hay. I'm sure he's got more couches around here somewhere."
"I'm fine right here if that's good with you all." Bruce said quietly from his spot on the sofa and Natasha just smiled and nodded.
She then turned to Steve, finding him staring out the window at the dark city, "You should get some sleep."
"I can't sleep." Steve admitted, looking over his shoulder at the redhead, "I slept my life away, now I just sit awake and wonder why I'm still alive."
Natasha pat his back in what was meant to be a comforting gesture, but she hit a little harder to get through the thick fabric of his suit, "Look around down there. As bad as it is, it would all be gone if you weren't still alive. Remember that, we couldn't have done it without you." Steve finally looked over his shoulder to see Natasha start to walk away.
Steve remembered Pepper Potts quickly explaining the layout of Stark Tower after spending a half hour sobbing into Tony's chest. He wandered away from the others toward the stairwell, grabbing a small black duffel bag before climbing the stairs to the next floor up. He carefully pushed open the door and found an open room with no furniture. Steve smiled, liking that he could have a little time alone, especially since he didn't intend on sleeping. He found a bathroom near the elevator and locked himself in, deciding to spend this time to get cleaned up.
Fury had some SHIELD agents drop off some of his belongings once things had calmed down late afternoon. Steve would have been happier going home, but Fury seemed to want to keep the team together until he had a better idea of what the future held. It seemed they had their answer now, and Steve was thankful to at least have something clean to sleep in. He unpacked the duffel bag, finding several of his workout shirts and some sweatpants, as well as a pair of jeans and some of his button down shirts. From the looks of things, SHIELD had grabbed almost everything he owned. Steve didn't care much about what he wore, and didn't find it necessary to expand his wardrobe. He had what he needed to get by, to go to the gym, go to the grocery store, and occasionally walk around New York and try to find something familiar.
Pulling out his toiletries, Steve found his sketchbook and smiled thankfully. Of all the things Nick Fury and SHIELD had provided him with, he was most thankful for that leather sketchbook and pencils they'd given him once they realized he liked to draw. He set the pad and pencils to the side, careful to keep them away from the water as he reached over and turned on the shower. He turned the dial as hot as it would go, then began to strip from his Captain America uniform.
Steve felt his muscles relax as the scalding hot water poured down his skin. One of the things he enjoyed most about the 21st Century was the hot water. Since coming out of the ice, Steve hated the cold. Winter in New York had been miserable, even though it had been home. He spent a lot of days at home, alone, having flashbacks to war, freezing in Europe, and the feeling of ice water overtaking his lungs. As spring arrived, he began to feel better, but as summer approached the buildings began to crank up the air conditioning, leaving Steve cold again. His one place of comfort was in the hot shower. He was alone with his thoughts, but the heat made him feel comfortable, as if there was still ice in his blood that needed to thaw out.
After shampooing the debris out of his hair, Steve turned off the water and sighed, leaning against the shower wall as the hot water escaped down the drain beneath his feet. With a huff, he carefully exited the shower and pulled on his underwear and sweatpants, then grabbed his duffel and wandered back into the empty room. He laid down several of his workout shirts into neat little squares, one on top of the other, then laid down and used them as a pillow. Steve hadn't planned on sleeping, in fact, he'd been hoping to stay awake and sketch for a while. After his hot shower and long day though, sleep came to take him after all.
He grinned to himself, wondering if the other Avengers would be able to sleep with the air conditioning in the tower broken.