They call her Human Torch! Chapter 17

Sunday October 2, 2011 – The next morning.

I woke up bright and early, happy to make breakfast for everyone after 3 weeks of not cooking. I had come to terms that even if I was tired, I was the only one who could cook something edible, I always loved cooking, it made me feel like I had a big family when they all marched into the kitchen to serve their plates so I didn't mind. I had already taken out a few pans when I detected the presence of someone else in the room. Turning around I saw Kitty standing there in her pajama bottoms and hoodie, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she yawned.

"Hey baby girl, what are you doing up so early?"

"I wanted to help you make breakfast."

"Oh you don't have to."

"I know but I wanted to. Plus I kind of wanted to learn how to cook things."

"Okay, I can teach you how to cook whatever you want. How about you start by helping me make the dough for biscuits? I saw this recipe to use the dough in the waffle maker, one in the bottom, stuff it with ham, egg, and cheese, then another dough layer on top to make like a wafflewich and I want to pair it with sausage gravy."

"Mmm that sounds so good!"

I laughed and soon we started making everything, I had her making the eggs and cutting up thick pieces of ham while I cooked the bacon, made the gravy, and flattened the dough into sheets. After only 2 minutes she sighed and washed her hands before walking out. She came back with a speaker and quickly connected my phone, putting my music on shuffle. The Beatles started playing and I started singing while she danced around. Nat came over for breakfast and stared at us in amusement before Logan, Tony, Pep, and Jane came to join in on the watching. Darcy came in last and joined Kitty on the dancing until I finished making the food alone since she was having so much fun dancing with Darcy and Tony, who turned out to be a great dancer. Once the food was done I set it out in the dining room right before Clint, Leah, Kim, Jared, and Paul showed up. We ate quickly and I was glad that everyone liked the concept of the breakfast today. Tony and Pepper said their good byes before Nat and Clint went to drop them off at the airport. They were going to spend a few weeks in LA and would be back for thanksgiving next month. Jane and Darcy took a cab to the airport an hour later and Jane said she would come for thanksgiving as well, Darcy would spend it with her parents in Arizona. I planned to take Kitty, Paul, Kim, Jared, and Leah around New York before watching an early show, Kim and Kitty have always wanted to watch something on Broadway so I got last minute tickets to watch Catch me if you can, it was new and had good reviews so far.

"Come on guys! Let's go! Let's go! Let's GO!"

They quickly marched out towards the elevator but Logan stayed on the couch.

"Logan! Come on hurry up!"

"What? I am not going!"

"Yes you are, I got you a ticket!"

I gave him a look, daring him to fuck with me right now. He sighed but got up and followed. We had a 3 pm show and found our seats right at 2:54. I was younger than half the people in our group but I felt like a damn mother hen, trying to track all of them. Kitty was my main responsibility and she is the only one that did not give me problems! In the end even Logan had a good time and Paul just complained about a hands on man sitting next to him. We took off after buying Kitty a jacket with the show logo on the back and spent the next few hours walking around time square and exploring the shops. I dropped off Paul, Leah, and Kim at the hotel, promising I would pick them up tomorrow to take them to the airport. When it was just Logan and Kitty in the car I sighed at such a busy weekend. I remembered to talk to Logan and saw Kitty instantly fall asleep in the back seat.

"Hey Logan?"

"Are you gonna ask me about the pain I saw on your face yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

God my cheeks almost felt like smoking but I pushed the feeling of embarrassment down and kept a straight face.

"I.. lost my virginity, kinda. I guess, I mean it was not full fledged se-"

"I get it! Shut up and tell me the actual problem."

He had a grimace on his face and I am sure that my face mirrored his at the moment.

"Well, when my... hymen was broken, obviously it hurt but I felt it trying to heal, I panicked and told him to move so maybe the thrusting would stop the healing? It was hell for a while there but then I sort of felt the healing stop. Like it gave up or something? I just wanted to ask if you knew more about that or if it would heal later when I was not sore anymore?"

He stayed quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I can't give you a definite answer, its not like I have been stabbed in the same place over and over until my ability gave up. I don't think it would but since.. that.. barrier, is something that is naturally supposed to be broken, I think that is why it gave up. Maybe it was trying to heal because you were in pain but once it realized what was damaged, it stopped."

"That would make sense. I guess."

"Yeah, I don't have any other answer for you, sorry."

"No problem. Thanks."

"...Sooo. You did the deed with a guy that turns green? That must have been.. different."

"WHAT?! No! I didn't!"

"Hey, I'm not judging darlin'."

"No really! I didn't!"

"Oh no? Then who?"

I stayed quiet, not really wanting to answer him. Paul and I promised not to talk about it again and I knew Logan would never bring it up again but still.. I mean I guess Logan is a better confidant than Tony, Tony would never let me live it down and if he saw Paul again one day I know he would bring it up.

"Paul. Last night."

"I don't get it. You guys were only gone like 20 minutes?"

"We were gone 30 minutes. And.. we didn't really finish."

"Well he must suck then if he couldn't get you to finish, it's the least you could do for a lady."

He snorted at his own joke but turned to look at me when I kept quiet.

"There's more? What did you embarrassed yourself doing something?"

"No, I- We were frustrated by the phone ringing constantly and for me it was an overwhelming pain. We just gave up and stopped mid way. We didn't even start really. It was just.. not the best experience. We decided that we just wouldn't talk about it again."

"Hmm, well you guys were acting normal around each other today?"

"Yeah, we just laughed it off and chose to remain friends. We are very good friends, that can't change so easily."

I pulled up to the school and had to wake up Kitty so she could get to bed. I left soon after, since I had already spoken to Logan about this new thing, I pray it does not heal. I will have to invest some money into some sex toys. I just didn't want to lose my virginity to a vibrator but now that it was broken maybe getting one will help. I will have to ask Darcy about that. She had like 8 and she named all of them.

Next morning. Monday October 3, 2011

I walked into headquarters this morning and was met with Coulson. Oh geez, that is never good.

"Agent Swan. I just wanted to let you know that Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff are both on missions and Director Fury will be stationed in our DC headquarters this week. Your schedule is waiting in your cubicle. Should you need anything, I am just a call away."

"Thanks."

He turned to go back to his office but paused half way and turned back around.

"Bella, I know your lunch is always taken with one of the agents but given how most of them are unavailable. Would you care to join me today?"

I gave him a small smile to hide my shock. I was not very close to Coulson because he was always so uptight and professional. I had seen a hint of playfulness with some Agents that he worked most with but we had never been alone so I had never really held an actual conversation with him, I guess this is my chance to see if we could be friends or if we would forever be just coworkers.

"Thank you, I would love to join you for lunch."

"Good then, will we meet here at 12:30?"

"Sure."

He nodded and kept walking. I went back to the file room I had been in 3 weeks ago and kept going where I had left off. I know after lunch I would be scheduled to join in at the gym to oversee the Agents in training. I was always learning their strategies and techniques for scenarios, it was all interesting to hear and I had taken a few other sessions that felt like history classes when they explained what tactics were used for different wars and missions. It was James Bond level stuff and well since we are Agents.. I guess it makes sense.

The week had gone by fast and my one lunch turned into everyday that week. I was right about Coulson, he was very playful once you got into his trust zone. He was always old fashioned and formal but once he got to know you he would let you in and get to know the real him. I picked Kitty up as usual on Thursday and invited him over on Friday for dinner. He got along with her too and by the end of the month she was calling him uncle Phil. I thought it was weird and funny as hell but he seemed to melt every time she called him that. So far Kitty seemed to have everyone she met, wrapped around her finger, all the adults at least.

Thursday November 24, 2011

It was 5:30 pm and I was finally finished with cooking. I have been cooking nonstop for 3 days now. People had tried to help but since Pepper was a waitress during high school, she was the only one that knew how not to get in my way. She was the only one allowed in the kitchen now. Kitty and I Invited a lot of people for Thanksgiving and they were all here chatting in the lounge while I set up the dining room. It seems that my apartment had become the place to be if you did not have family and I was completely okay with it, elated even. Clint, Darcy, and Phil had gone home to their families for the holiday's and the people that had come over were Nat, Fury, Tony, Pep, Jane, Mrs. Grimm, Logan, Charles, Storm, Hank, Jean, and Scott. I had asked the staff from the school over and they had declined at first, choosing to stay with the students who did not have a family to go home to but after talking with Kitty about it, we decided to invite the students too. There were 24 of us in total and although the dining room still did not fill up, I took away the excess chairs and set up the table with beautiful fall decorations and sets of plates that were decorated with fine gold leaves. It was beautiful and since no one was allowed in the kitchen, Kitty and Jane went to a craft store and started filling the dining hall with floating candles that they made with LED lights and string. Tony and I agreed that we would do this every year because it looked like the dining hall in Hogwarts. The food was amazing and I had to thank god for the internet! I spent over a week planning out every starter, main dishes, sides, snacks, and desserts. I of course planned to make extra food and having everyone heat it up for breakfast because I did not want to wake up to once again cook, however, so many men around the table had some silent competition on who ate the most, at least I think they did because all the 'extra' food was gone by the end of the night. We were left with all the desserts since everyone was too stuffed to even try them. The kids were very happy to take them back to the school though. Charles thanked me for giving the students a home feeling on the holiday and invited me to go over to the school for Christmas, apparently they did hold a small party for them on Christmas but I politely declined and told him I was looking forward to having my first Christmas here with Kitty. When it was time for Mrs. Grimm to go I made sure to invite her back for Christmas as well.

"Oh thank you dear, I might consider it if only for the delicious food you always present but I promised my sister I would fly out to Kansas to spend the holiday with her family. She wanted me to go for Thanksgiving and stay until the New year but that is simply too much time to be away from home."

"I understand, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family. You grew up in Kansas right?"

"Yes dear, I will make sure to bring you a jar of honey from my sister's farm. Pure organic honey, nothing like it in these parts."

I laughed and walked her down to the lobby before putting her in a cab.

Tuesday December 27, 2011

I had spent my Christmas surrounded by people I loved. Once again Tony and Pepper came over and Tony had declared that he would grace me with his presence every holiday, he later hugged me in private and thanked me for giving them somewhere to feel like family. Nat, Fury, Logan and Jane came over too but it felt more intimate because it was just us 8. Kitty had grown very close to all of them and I was so happy to see her bouncing in excitement by the gigantic tree that Tony bought. Everyone got her at least 2 presents and had put something in her stocking. It was a mess of wrapping paper by the end of the night and I could not have asked for something different. Tony and Jane worked together and finally came up with a design that they gifted to me, it was a glass chamber that would be installed in my bedroom. They wanted to surprise me with it so they are still not sure exactly how much heat it can take until I test it out.

This morning Tony lent us his Jet after I decided to bring Kitty to Forks. It was a decision that I did not make lightly but I wanted her to see the house we had here and a part of me really wanted to bring her to Charlie's grave. That is where we were at now and she was hugging me while I leaned on her shoulder, we had been here about 20 minutes and I still had not said a thing, I was never one to speak to him at his grave, it did not feel right to me but now more than ever I just wanted to introduce Kitty to him somehow.

"Dad, this is Kitty. I am in the process of adopting her, I know you never wanted me to have kids so young but you would be singing a different tune if you could meet her and see what a smart and wonderful kid she is."

She giggled and hugged me harder but I saw her eyes fill with tears.

"He would have loved you so much Kitty, I can't even begin to tell you what a great man he was. He protected this town as much as he could until the day he died and was very respected for it. He did not express himself vocally, he was quiet and shy when it came to talking about himself but he told me he loved me everyday in actions. He would put chains on my tires when there was ice on the roads so I could be safer, if I was sick he would stock the cabinet with every kind of medicine there was and with every flavor of cough drops he could find."

I couldn't hold my tears back anymore and we just held each other.

"I wish I could have met him. He sounds really great."

"He was."

It was 5 pm and it was getting too cold to be sitting here any longer so I nudged her and helped her get up. She hugged me once more before we left.

"Thanks for bringing me here, it means a lot that you are sharing something so personal with me."

"Of course I would. Baby girl, you are my daughter in every way that counts, if you ever want to ask me anything about myself that I haven't told you or that you want to know more about, I would love to tell you. I never want you to feel like my life is too personal to dig into okay? We are not just 2 separate people, you are not just someone that I pick up on weekends to live with me. You know that right?"

"Do- do you really see me like that?"

"Like what honey?"

"You called me your daughter. You have never done that before."

"Well I was not sure how you felt about that, I know you wanted me to adopt you but we are so close in age that I did not think, I mean you had your parents and I didn't want to assume you know?"

"You are my only parent."

I sniffed through the wave of tears that filled my eyes as I hugged her. I nodded at her and kissed her head before guiding her out of the memorial park. She stopped me in the parking lot and bit her lip, hesitating.

"Mom?"

I looked at her, not really knowing how to respond to it. I was not sure if she was testing the word out or if she was asking if the name was okay. All I knew in that moment was the I was melting just like Phil did every time she calls him uncle Phil.

"I-is that okay?"

"Of course it is baby girl. I love you so much honey. I am so glad you got lost and I found you."

She laughed and hugged me again before finally we got in the car. I was nervous about bringing her to Charlie's grave, I was not sure if there was any point but I am so happy that I did. We drove through the empty streets of Forks in a comfortable silence until we pulled up to the house. I got out and was hit by a strange scent, usually I was not good at scenting but this stood out, almost like the pack stands out to me but this was sweeter someho- I froze remembering Jacob's words from long ago

sickeningly sweet, makes our noses burn..

I felt out of breath, out of control. The scent was strong and I had to think there were more than 2, 3 at least. Sensing my nerves right away Kitty used her ability to walk right through the car and to my side immediately. It was taking all my will to not burst into flames and follow the scent, if it lead me to Victoria, if I had the chance to turn her to ash, this is what I have been waiting for, what I have been wanting, but I had Kitty with me and I could not be so careless and stupid. I had to put aside my needs and think rationally.

"Kitty, I detect vampires. I need you to run into the house now. And Call Sam."

"What? V-vampires? The one that killed your dad?"

"I don't know but Kitty. Please I am asking you to go into the house. I can't risk your safety. Call Sam."

"What about yours? I can't lose you! And I don't know Sam."

"Paul then. Go to the kitchen, the numbers are by the phone. Go now Kitty!

I sighed, not knowing what to do, I was not even sure if there was a scent inside the house. I couldn't know if there was someone in there. Suddenly I felt calm enough to breath and that fake sense of security was enough to make me panic and wrap that 'shield' securely around myself and trying to focus on Kitty so it would extend to her too. I heard rustling and a second later I stood protectively in front of Kitty as shadows came out of the trees.

"Bella."

There stood Jasper, flanked by Alice, Emmett, Carlisle, and 2 other red eyed vampires.