Hey everyone, I wanted to say thank for all the support especially after that really dark chapter. This one is a bit lighter. We get to see the Starks together again. You got to love their banter. A bit of a red flag in there. Brief rehashing of the last chapter and some of the details not included previously like things that happened in between scenes. Nora finally makes a step forward toward getting better. We also get to see a bit of a hint as to what comes next for her. Anyway let me know what you think and as always thank you.
I opened my eyes and I was at some warehouse. I heard voices and a very familiar one above them all.
"Otto my man, just name your price and my friends here can go and get your money." I heard Gramps say. I peeked over the crate I was hiding behind and saw three guys holding guns up at Gramps, Peggy and Jarvis.
"We want the fifty thousand we agreed to get you here but we'll need another one hundred thousand if you want us to keep quiet." He counter offered.
"We could do that…" Before Gramps could finish I used my powers, flicked my hands and threw them across the room against the wall and knocked them out.
"But that's easier." I finished.
"Perfect timing." Peggy said looking me over, "You're looking…slightly better." She said with a frown.
I looked down and saw my wrinkled dress and remembered I was still in the clothes I wore the night before. I got chills just thinking about last night.
"Yeah, late night. What's going on here? Last time I saw you, Gramps was on the lamb." I said.
"I'm still on the lamb, just came back to help clear my name. Last time I saw you, you were throwing up pain killers." Gramps said not looking very happy about it.
"Oh right, that was like three months ago…" I said ashamed.
"As much as you two need to have this conversation I think it would be best to move this to the safe house." Jarvis reminded them.
"Right, This way." Peggy said leading.
"You have great judgment picking business partners Gramps." I said sarcastically as we walked over the knocked out goons. I couldn't help but think of Obadiah Stane when I said it.
"Mr. Mink may be a greedy black market smuggler sure, but he got me back in the country and he's predictable in his greed. I like predictable and I like greedy." He said as we left the building.
We got in the car and it was eerily quiet. Peggy was eying me suspiciously, probably making sure I wasn't going to upchuck on her shoes after last time. Gramps was glancing at everyone hoping someone would start the conversation. Guess he got tired of waiting.
"So how are you two getting along?" Gramps asked Peggy and Jarvis. "Peggy tried Anna's goulash?" I missed Nana's goulash. "Peggy, Jarvis know you can do 107 one-armed pushups?"
Peggy just arched an eyebrow in annoyance before turning around to face Gramps.
"Howard you came back to New York City risking notice from every American Intelligence Agency." She said.
"Hmm." Gramps just said nonchalantly looking over to the window.
"Why?" Peggy said.
"Let's get back to my place. We'll have some Sherry." Gramps said. Why did he risk coming back? I thought he'd be hiding off on some private island tanning on the beach sipping Meitei's by now.
"Stop the car." Peggy said abruptly.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"The residence is only a block away." Jarvis told her.
"See that man waiting for the bus? That's Agent Yauch." She said looking at said bus stop before looking in the opposite direction. "You see that Sedan parked by the fire hydrant? That is Agent Henry. Make a left." She told Jarvis.
"That was my least-known property. A dummy corporation holds the lease."
"And another dummy corporation owns that company." Jarvis said. At least now I know where Dad got the idea of how to keep the ranch a secret.
"The only people who know about that penthouse besides ma and Jarvis are Lana Turner, Jane Russell…" Gramps started listing out possible leaks. Then I realized they weren't business associates as much as one-night stands.
"You do realize that my work colleague Ray Krzeminski was killed while you were out gallivanting?" Peggy said. That explains her anger at Gramps. I really had missed a lot since the last time I was here.
"I was not gallivanting." Gramps defended.
"The SSR blames you and they're out for blood." Peggy retorted. That explains why I was sent back. I needed to help clear Gramps' name.
"We must assume they're about to uncover all your residences, your bank accounts, your corporations." Jarvis told Gramps making him groan.
"So perhaps turning up unexpectedly was not your best plan." Peggy said but I the only one who caught the double meaning behind her words. Yup she was definitely mad at me.
"So where can I hide?" Gramps asked.
Peggy sighed. "God, help me. Take a right up ahead." She told Jarvis.
We stopped at a hotel.
"Ah, the Griffith. How's Miriam?" Gramps asked. Oh boy.
"Into the Alley Mr. Jarvis." Peggy told him.
Once we were there. Gramps and Peggy got out of the car.
"Nora let's go." Gramps said.
"I think I'll be fine on my own. It's going to be hard to sneak you up there on your own." I said.
"Oh no you don't. We still need to talk. Let's go." Gramps said opening my door so I would get out of the car.
"Oh boy." I said walking ahead of him.
We snuck in through a hatch that led to the laundry room. Peggy moved across the laundry room and opened the hatch to the dumbwaiter. "Get in" She told Gramps.
"What? I hate small spaces." Gramps complained. "What if the chain snaps and I fall to my death, you'll never be born?" He said trying to got me on his side.
"Quit being such a baby." I said helping Peggy close the hatch.
"What if I suffocate?" he said opening it again.
"Don't worry I'll never reveal that Howard Stark's dead body is rotting at the bottom of a dumbwaiter shaft. Besides we have bigger things to worry about, if Miriam finds us we'll be much more comfortable in an electric chair." Peggy deadpanned slamming it shut and sealing it so gramps couldn't argue. I flipped the switch and Gramps was off.
Peggy sighed and just when we thought we were off the hook we heard the voice Peggy was dreading hearing. "Miss Carter, of all the women in this establishment you are the one for whom I am the most worried."
"Oh, what a dismaying sentiment." Peggy responded.
"Well the hours you keep seem less that of a woman gainfully employed as a telephone operator and more that of one who frequents taxi dance halls." The woman said looking both Peggy and I over.
"Um, I was just showing my friend Nora around the building. Angie told me there was a vacancy and Nora's has had a bit of trouble with her apartment." Peggy said.
"Is that right," She said giving me a look. I looked down at my clothes and realized wearing knee high boots and a T-shirt dress topped with a cardigan was probably not giving off the right impression.
"Yes ma'am, the plumbing in my apartment is just awful and this morning I woke up to my apartment being completely flooded. Everything I owned was completely destroyed." I said tearing up a bit.
"Oh dear you poor thing." She said.
"All of my clothes were ruined, a neighbor had to lend me what she managed to save from her room. It wasn't much but it was better that walking around in my unmentionables." I said tearing up a bit. Peggy just gave me a look that said 'Oh god, she's actually buying it.'
"I am so sorry, where is your family?" She asked genuinely concerned.
"They live in Texas, My cousin who lives in the city is currently out of town so I am completely on my own." I answered.
"I am sorry to hear that, unfortunately I just filled the vacancy we had and the young lady just moved in but if it's all right with Miss Carter you are more than welcome to stay with her until your cousin returns." She said kindly. "Come now, I'll walk you both to your room." She said guiding me out and dragging Peggy out with her.
We spent the entire walk to the room listening to the woman give her an explanation of her misinterpretation on Sigmund Freud's work.
We were about to walk into Peggy's room when she reminded Peggy of the 'Laundry' she had sent up in the dumbwaiter. While Peggy went to retrieve them I waited at the door. I started to hear a very familiar laugh and it wasn't coming from Peggy's room. I walked down the hall and knocked at the door loudly.
A blonde answered the door; please don't let this be another Sally Mae. "Yes? You just woke me." She said closing her robe.
Then Gramps came up behind her and slipped out. He was buttoning up his pants. "Not to worry, This is my cousin Nora." He said just as Peggy came back and threw laundry at him.
"Nora, Lorraine." Gramps said introducing us as we walked to meet Peggy.
"Don't you think your cousin looks just like Howard Stark?" She said.
"Oh that's just how his face turned out after a horribly disfiguring accident we had as children. Years of surgery and that's what he was left with." I said walking back to Peggy's room.
"More handsome than ever. Come on Nora," Gramps said with a smirk. "We have family business to discuss." He closed the door behind him.
"I'll order up some sausage, eggs, couple of Bloody Marys.." He said handing us each a cup of tea.
"There's no room service Howard." Peggy said picking an outfit. "I'm getting dressed and going to work. So say what you have to say, and it better include when you're leaving my apartment." She said walking into the bathroom.
"I'm bound for Rio in three days. Before I depart, I need to know which of my inventions you've recovered." He answered getting Peggy's attention.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well if I know what the SSR has obtained, I can determine how many are still on the black market." He said fixing his shirt collar. I knew what that meant.
"But why are you here? Why isn't Jarvis the one asking me?" Peggy said peeking out of the bathroom.
"Cause Jarvis doesn't have one of these." Gramps said pulling out a pen.
Peggy took the pen out of his and took a look. "A camera pen?" She said.
"Oh, I always wanted one of those." I said taking a look.
"There's the enthusiasm I was looking for. Finally someone that can appreciate the time it took to figure out the lens miniaturization." He said. Peggy just looked at us annoyed at how we were being given the gravity of the situation.
Shortly after Peggy got ready she was ready to leave. "Let's go to work Pegs." I said opening the door.
"You're not coming. You're staying. We can't risk someone seeing you glow and disappear." Peggy said.
"We still need to have that chat so I'd sit down if I were you." Gramps said.
"Have fun you two?" Peggy said sarcastically as she walked out.
We sat there in silence just staring at each other. This was as serious as I'd ever seen Gramps. I'm used to him being the life of the party with the occasional heart to hearts when there was no other choice. This, this was the look of a disappointed dad about to scream his head off, or worse the look of a dad whose kid had done something so bad they were rendered completely speechless. So I did the first thing that came to my head, I made small talk.
"So Rio, that sounds fun. Must be nice this time of year and it's close to carnival season." I said hoping to ease the tension. He just pinched his eyebrows and folded his hands together. That was a fail.
"You look like hell." Gramps finally said. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"Where do I start?" I said.
"Let's start with how you've been doing the past… what six months since you got back to your own time." He said.
"Been pretty okay I guess. Could be better." I answered.
"That's a load of crap. How about this time you're actually honest?" He said.
"I am being honest." I said.
"Nora, I like to think that besides being family we're friends. Hell I consider you my best friend. We don't lie to each other. You're one of the few people I'm completely honest with." He said.
"Why did you lie to Peggy earlier?" I asked.
"What? I didn't lie to her." He said reaching up to fix his shirt again.
"Yes you were. You have a tell Gramps, I've known you long enough to know when you're being honest and when you're lying so stop trying and tell me, why did you lie to Peggy?" I said.
"I'll tell you but you have to be completely honest with me. No beating around the bush, no changing the subject." He said.
"I'll try." I said. "I can't exactly tell you everything bout the future now can I." I said when he gave me a look.
"One of the weapons isn't actually a weapon. It's just where I was hiding the plans from another project I worked on." He said.
"Manhattan?" I asked. "Shit that's bad. Wait, why do you even have the plans to build an atomic bomb. I thought you were forced to give all you finding back?"
"I kind of rewrote them all from memory." He said.
"For fuck sakes Gramps, you're supposed to build things to help mankind not blow it up." I said.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. Okay its pretty bad, the blood from that project is locked up tight in one of the stolen inventions but unless you know how to open it you can't and you're looking at the only person who know how to." He said.
"Well that's good I guess." I answered, what a weird metaphor. "And that's all right, that's the entire truth?" I asked.
"Complete honesty, scouts honor." He said messing with his shirt collar again. So this is how dad felt when I lied to him and he knew I was all those months ago.
"Back to you, How are you honestly? And don't say fine, because you're not." He said crossing his arms.
"Honestly, I'm pretty screwed up." I said.
"I figured. Want to start with what happened right before you appeared?"
I took a deep breath and held back the tears In my eyes I got just thinking about my most recent fuck up.
"My best friend finally had her baby, my nephew, Connor. It was his baptism and I'm now officially his godmother. There was a party afterward and I got drunk. Dean also happened to be there." I said.
"Dean, as in first guy you ever slept with Dean. Guy who broke up with you over the phone when he met his soulmate. That Dean." he said.
"Yes," I said looking away. "So he was named godfather and we were drinking. He was alone since he was having relationship troubles. We got drunk, one thing led to another. I was having an off couple of months. I hit rock bottom. And when I was there I was just numb. So that night he started it. I knew it was wrong but when he kissed me it was the first time in months I felt something. It wasn't a good feeling, but it was something. I should've stopped it but I didn't. Instead I spent the night with him. It wasn't until after we…" I said not being able to say the actual words, and tears falling down my face.
"Yeah, I get the picture." Gramps said
"We were in bed, he was hugging me and he said," I started crying. "He said…'I love you beautiful' and I lost it. Those were the same words he would say." I cried. "What the hell is wrong with me Gramps?"
"Nora…" Gramps said coming over and hugging me. "You've had it rough kid. I know you don't want to talk about it but I have to ask, what happened three months ago?"
"I was in Boston on the roof of my apartment building. It was quiet. I was alone taking a break from studying and I was taking in the view. I got on the ledge to get a better look. While I was up there I looked down and thought to myself, one step and it could all be over. One step and I could be with them again." I said.
"But you didn't." Gramps said.
"I was standing there for five, ten minutes and I heard someone come up so I got off and went back to my apartment. I sat on my couch and made a pro and con list. The pros outweighed the cons so I started getting things ready. I had already set up my will. Did it after I got back in case I ever disappeared again. I made sure Axl had enough water and food for a few days and I wrote my dad a goodbye letter. I poured myself a glass of wine went to get the pills from my bathroom and went to my room I drank then and started feeling lightheaded Thought that was the end but it wasn't. The stone said I still had things to do and that it wasn't my time. You saw me puke them out. I got back and we fought." I said.
"You fought with the stone? It's been talking to you?" Gramps asked.
"Unfortunately me feeling like crap didn't stop it from telling me how much of an idiot I was being. Told me it wasn't going to stop me from trying again but that it wouldn't work." I said.
"So you didn't try again." Gramps said.
"I never said that, I thought it was empty threats so I tried again except this time I tried slitting my wrists." I said. I pulled up the sleeves of my sweater and showed Gramps.
"There's not a mark on you." He said looking them over.
"Accelerated regeneration." I said with a shrug. "After that I just stopped trying. I buried myself in work and went on with my miserable existence, which brings us back to where we are now."
"Why would you even consider that as an option?!" He said yelling a bit.
"Because there was nothing left for me Gramps. Bucky died. Steve chose to die and left me. I don't see the point in going on with my life. The only thing keeping me here is the stupid stone not letting me go."
"Nora, Steve did what he felt was right. He saved millions of lives that day. He would have given anything to get back to you." Gramps said.
"No he wouldn't have and he didn't. Steve wanted to die. He wanted to be with Bucky and honestly I don't blame him but I do blame him for leaving me alone when he could have found a way back."
"Why are you talking like that?" Gramps said confused.
"The night before the last mission I got back from Asgard and I showed up at the apartment, remember?" Gramps nodded. "He apologized for what happened and we talked about him, about Bucky. I knew what was going to happen and I couldn't warn him so instead I asked him to promise me he'd do everything he could to make it out of there. Want to know what he said? He didn't promise me anything instead he brought up a promise the three of us had made to each other. That if one of us reached the end of the line before the rest of us we'd move on with our lives. He reminded me of that instead of promising me. Steve didn't want to make it out of there Gramps. He wanted to die." I said sobbing.
"Kid that's not true."
"Gramps, it takes three to four minutes for a plane to crash on the ground from the altitude of that plane. You really think he couldn't have set it to crash before jumping of in that amount of time or hell even gotten you on the radio to explain how to land it safely? He wanted to die. Him reminding me of that promise was his way of saying goodbye." I said. Gramps was completely speechless. I couldn't stop crying at this point. It was the first time I had ever told anyone all of this. It was a lot to process.
"God Nora," Gramps just said rubbing his face. "What did your dad have to say about all of this?" At the mention of dad I just looked away.
"Your dad does know, right?" He asked.
"Dad doesn't even know about my soulmarks." I said.
"What? Why not? Why didn't you tell him about the time stone and time traveling? Please tell me your housemate, what's his name,… Wren, is there to make sure you don't do anything wreckless." Gramps said.
"Well too late for that." I muttered making him give me a look. "I haven't met Wren yet. I think that might be a few years down the line for me. I wanted to tell Dad, I really did but the time stone doesn't want him to know. It said something about interfering and altering my timeline. Which all things considered it's been doing a pretty horrible job at." I said.
"Time Traveling is complicated." He said.
"Life's complicated." I retorted.
"Once this is all over, I should take a vacation. I just bought a beach house in the Los Angeles. Might go into showbiz, take up directing." He said.
"Sounds nice." I answered.
'What about you?" Gramps asked.
"I'm graduating a year early from Med School, so residency right after. I'm thinking a surgical residency program in Trauma. One of my internship supervisors recommended a program with the army. I get to do it in half the time and get real world experience along with some traveling." I said.
"You're joining the army again?" Gramps said. "And your Dad's okay with that?"
"Um, I haven't really told him, I don't think he'll take it well. Besides I have to apply and see if I'll even get accepted." I said.
"You're a genius with an Ivy League education, you're a shoe in, but are you sure that's what you want?" Gramps asked.
"After everything that's happened, I just need to get away, find meaning in life again. Maybe helping others is the way to get there." I said.
"Are you sure you're not doing that to…" I know what he was asking and honestly part of me still wanted to die but I knew the stone wouldn't let it happen so I'm following my Dad's footsteps, I'm going to go be someone's hero, and make sure someone else gets the chance to get their soulmate back.
"Gramps, a part of me died the day Bucky fell off that train, and another part of me died with Steve. Everything that was left shattered. I feel like crap and I don't want to go on with my life but just like with everything else, I'm not in control anymore the stone is. So I could wallow in self-pity until the day it finally lets me go or I can bury this pain and take advantage of how numb I feel and go fight for my country. I think the latters my best option." I said.
"Nora that's not…" Gramps was interrupted by Peggy walking back in.
"Pegs…" I greeted.
"Did you get them?" Gramps asked.
"Mission Accomplished." She said handing Gramps the pen. Gramps started taking the pen apart while Peggy and I turned the room into a dark room.
I took the film Gramps handed me and I lifted them up to see the pictures, "Um that's an interesting pose." I said blushing a bit.
"Oh, the first ten might not be suitable for your eyes" he said making Peggy groan.
"These all look like your inventions." I said handing him the strip of film.
There was a knock at the door followed by, "Peggy."
Peggy just sighed.
"Who is that?" Gramps asked.
"Communal Dining's one of the joys of residing at the Griffith." Peggy said with a grimace.
"Sounds nice." Gramps said
"Uh-Stay Away," Peggy called out. "Uh-Actually Angie I'm feeling a bit under the weather."
"No, Peggy. You should go. I worry about you. You work too much. I'll look through the rest of the photos myself." Gramps offered a bit too fast.
"Well then, come along Nora, I'm sure Miriam would love to discuss Sigmund Freud and here your sob story again." Peggy said. At that moment I started getting the chills and glowing.
"Sorry Peggy, Maybe next time." I said before disappearing again.
When I finally managed to open my eyes again I was back in Connor's nursery. Jess and Sam were next to the crib and just staring at me.
"Um, so I guess its story time." I said awkwardly.