So Bucky, Steve and I agreed to start over. We never really discussed what exactly starting over entailed but the beginning seemed like a good place to start and as for me that was the beginning of Operation Fake it until you make it. Or as Aya was calling it being in denial.
I wasn't sleeping outside of any temporal fields which meant to anyone else I wasn't sleeping more than ten to twenty minutes a day. Thankfully the only person who noticed anything was Aiden but that was because he also wasn't sleeping much either.
As it turns out him finally taking out Snow aka his own personal boogey man, led to a sort of existential crossroads. He had spent years being brainwashed followed by years of chasing every possible lead to find him that he suddenly found himself with nothing to do.
What do you get when you have a time traveler that was trying to seize every moment she had left and a former assassin with nothing to do? An incredibly clean and organized house, a freezer and fridge full of meal prep ideas, a baby that barely let out a whimper before his mother and uncle were at his side and a lot of all-night movie slash series binge watching marathons.
"The three comma club. You think that's a real thing?" Aiden said as we watched Silicon Valley.
"It is, any time dad says he's going to a gala, fundraiser, of anywhere in Monaco, it's a three comma club meeting." I said.
"That tracks." He said before he saw the time. "We can cram in the season finale or do you want to save that for tonight?"
"Why wait?" I said playing it.
"Yeah I can start breakfast after." Aiden said.
"I meal prepped frittata muffins yesterday. Take them out of the freezer and give them ten minutes in the oven and they're good to go." I said.
"We can take Sam breakfast?" Aiden suggested.
"We meal prepped for him too." I said.
"The kids lunches?" Aiden said.
"Already did that last night." I said.
"Shit. How do we have nothing to do already. It's only Monday." Aiden said.
"Tell me about it. I finished 5 twenty page research proposals while I waited for an answer to the first one I turned in and it that only killed 3 days. I don't know what I'm going to do for the next 6 months while I wait for an answer." I said.
"Is it horrible that I'm so bored I actually want Wren to wake up with a dirty diaper just to have something to do?" Aiden said.
"Hey I grew that baby and pushed him out of me, I get to change that dirty diaper." I said.
"You got to take Axl out last night." Aiden said.
"After you washed the dishes without me." I said and Aiden just stared at me at the sudden realization we were actually fighting over a dirty diaper.
"What the hell is wrong with us?" he said.
"I don't know. Everyone I work with complains that there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything they need to do done but me, I have too much free time." I said.
"Those lucky bastards." Aiden said. "Why did Wren have to finally start sleeping through the night?"
"He's an overachiever." I said as my phone dinged. "Oh right he has his first baby Gymboree class."
"I'll do it!" Aiden said jumping at the chance.
"It's a mom thing." I said.
"You have work." He reminded me.
"It'll probably be a slow day." I said.
"You work in the ER." Aiden retorted.
"There are other doctors." I said.
"But you have to be there to yell at them." Aiden said and he knew he won.
"Damn it." I cursed.
"Sucks to be the boss." Aiden said with a smirk.
That's how Aiden ended up being the one to take Wren to his baby Gymboree classes and how I ended up at work listening to my interns give random absurd diagnoses when the patient obviously had hemorrhoids while looking at the photos Aiden sent bragging about how much fun 'guy' time was.
"We should perform an endoscopic…" My intern started.
"You're an idiot." I told the intern.
"Uh.. excuse me?" He said.
"Your patient doesn't need surgery. He also doesn't need a CT or any of the expensive tests you just ordered for him that's going to cost him hundreds of dollars and us a ton of time." I said.
"Doctor Stark…" He started when I put a hand up to signal him to shut up before walking to where the patient was waiting.
"Mister Morales." I greeted the patient. "How are you doing?"
"Not great Doctor." He answered shifting uncomfortably as he sat down "It's happening again…"
"Was it Enchiladas or the burrito red sauce?" I asked.
"The burrito. I asked for mild but it wasn't mild." He whined.
"Oh I hate when that happens." I said. "Okay so we have the usual options, a cold compress…"
"Did that." He said.
"I'm also going to prescribe you some cooling ointment it'll help bring down the swelling. You should feel better almost immediately but if by tomorrow nothing changes you can come back and we can reassess." I said.
"So I don't need surgery?" He said.
"Not unless there's something else bothering you?" I asked.
"But he said…" Mister Morales said.
"You said you were in pain and I just thought…" the intern said.
"Jameson go down to the pharmacy and go get Mister Morales' prescription and while you're at it go cancel everything you ordered before it gets to billing. Now!" I said.
"Yes Ma'am!" he answered.
"Hurry!" I called out. "Mister Morales I'm going to get you a cushion so you'll be more comfortable."
"Thank you." He said relieved.
When my intern came back I yelled at him before sending him to proctology for the rest of his shift.
"Uh…" I groaned sitting in the break room next to Montgomery.
"Rough day?" He asked.
"My intern ordered an endoscopy, a CT, colon cultures and basically every test known to man for a patient with Hemorrhoids." I said.
"You're kidding?" Montogomery said.
"I wish." I said. "I sent him to proctology for the rest of his shift."
"These interns make me miss Afghanistan." He said.
"Oh the good old days." I said and my phone dinged and it was a photo of Aiden holding Wren up as he reached for a toy the class instructor waved around.
"I'm filling out paperwork for butt zits while my brother in law gets to spend time with this adorable little angel." I said showing him the photo.
"Aww, I remember when mine were that age. Before those little shits turned into ungrateful brats." Montgomery said. "Enjoy it Nora. These are the good years. It all goes to shit once they figure out how to use youtube. And they only talk to you when they need the wifi password or your password to the app store to download fucking candy crush…"
"That was a lot…" I said.
"Teenagers are the worst." He said.
"Okay I'm just going to grab lunch and maybe check in on my kid while he still loves me." I said.
"Yeah." Montgomery said. "You should do that."
I awkwardly made my way back to my office before face timing Aiden who was filling me in on how the class went. Which was mostly Aiden talking about the hot single teacher he wanted to get to know better.
"I glad to know you enjoyed it. So I can move my shift around so that next week…" I started.
"No!" Aiden said as someone knocked on my door.
"Come in." I called out as Steve and Bucky came in with coffee and lunch.
"What do you mean no?" I said.
"Nora this is quality nephew uncle time. It's guy time. We need this." Aiden said.
"You're going to try and screw the teacher aren't you?" I said.
"What? No… though if the opportunity should arise…" he started.
"Aiden." I said.
"Damn it Nora I need this." Aiden said.
"Fine but don't get your nephew kicked out. It's important for him to develop good social skills." I said.
"Yes because him being raised by assassins, a talking rock and a time traveling mother is going to prevent that from happening." Aiden said.
"You're not helping your case." I said.
"Relax go cut someone open or yell at an intern. That always puts you in a good mood." Aiden said.
"I was actually about to go to lunch. Steve and Bucky are here. Say Hi." I said turning the phone.
"Hey." Bucky and Steve said.
"Oh good you really need to get laid." Aiden said.
"Aiden!" I shouted.
"Bye. Say bye to your mummy." Aiden said gently lifting Wren's hand in a semi wave before he hung up.
"I thought Wren went to daycare downstairs?" Bucky said.
"Yeah but he had his first Gymboree class and Aiden took him." I said. "I'm starting to rethink whether that was a good idea or not."
"Wren looked happy." Steve said. "So did Aiden."
"Don't remind me." I said putting my phone down. "So what brings you two into the city?"
"We thought you might want to eat something other than cafeteria food." Bucky said.
"And coffee that's actually good." Steve said.
"Right on time for my mid day dose." I said taking the offered cup. "Mhm I needed that."
"Busy morning?" Bucky asked.
"Not really. It's dead. I mean not literally there'd be more to do if it was." I said as Steve and Bucky looked as me not understanding it was a joke. "It's a work thing. How's the team?"
"They're good." Steve said. "Wanda is taking some time."
"Right." I said. I had missed Pietro's funeral while I was still on the mend from the Snow incident and honestly I had been avoiding her because of how guilty I felt. I didn't know what to say and I didn't think sorry was enough.
"How's Aiden doing?" Bucky said.
"He's fully recovered, still bored out of his mind. Apparently there is such a thing as too much free time. We actually fought over who was going to change Wren's dirty diaper this morning." I said.
"You know he could always join the team?" Steve said.
"Yeah I don't think he's there yet." I said. "He spent so much time being controlled by Snow and then looking for Snow, I think he's still trying to figure out what he wants for himself."
"I get it." Bucky said truly understanding that more than anyone.
"But for now I think he's okay being a full time uncle." I said. "And he's good with Wren."
"What about you how are you doing after everything?" Steve said.
"I'm fine. Things are pretty much back to normal. Well as close to normal as things can be. Aya's decided not to trigger any time jumps for a while. I think losing me for a year and everything that happened with Pietro scared her more than she let on." I said.
"Aya being scared. I don't really see that happening." Bucky said.
"Stranger things have happened." I said.
It was a nice lunch we talked even laughed a bit before agreeing to do it again sometime, maybe not in my cramped office next time.
Just as they were leaving my beeper went off.
"Incoming trauma. Apartment fire. Yes!" I cheered and Steve and Bucky looked at me horrified. "I mean it's horrible… but I might get to fix someone! Thanks for lunch."
I gave Steve and Bucky a kiss on the cheek before teleporting back to the ER.
I did end up in surgery and got home after Wren was already down for the night.
"Aww I missed him?" I said walking in to Aiden cleaning up.
"By twenty minutes." Aiden said.
"Shit." I said falling back into the couch.
"It's fine. He didn't put up too much of a fuss." Aiden said. "And you were in surgery. Did the guy make it?"
"Brain dead." I said.
"Shit. Sorry." Aiden said.
"That's the job." I said. "Turning on the TV. Do we pick up where we left off or do you want to switch it up and put on a movie?"
"Either's fine." Aiden said. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just tired. I might powernap." I said.
"Or you could just sleep?" He suggested.
"And let you watch ahead? No." I said getting up. "Give me ten minutes."
I was washing my hands after changing into my pajamas when Aya appeared.
"You look tired." She said.
"I'm about to hit pause. Everything okay?" I said.
"You should sleep. Like really sleep." Aya said.
"I do sleep. In a temporal field." I said.
"Nora." Aya said frustrated.
"I can't change what's going to happen but I can stretch out the time I have left." I said.
"And you're going to spend all of that extra time on the couch watching sitcoms?" Aya said.
"For now. Until I find something better to do." I said.
"There's a reason I didn't tell you about how to use temporal fields for things other than fixing walls after a fight." Aya said.
"Yes and I'm mildly annoyed you didn't I'm so ahead on everything." I said.
"And with too much time on your hands." Aya said.
"Time is a gift." I said.
"It's a gift because it's limited." Aya said.
"I'm well aware how limited it is." I said.
"Then you should have realized by now that the only thing you're doing is living in denial." Aya said.
"Well Aya I know its going to happen and I'm not going to fight it but until then what I do with my time and how I manage it is up to me." I said.
"You're not going to be able to keep this up forever." Aya said.
"It's not forever. It's five years which in the grand scheme of things is almost nothing." I said.
"Pietro's dead because I decided to mess with time, what do you think is going to happen when the strain of what you're doing catches up with you?" Aya said.
"I'll probably be dead by then." I said.
"You know what, do what you want but just know I did try to warn you." Aya said before disappearing. I shook my head before lying down and taking my nap.
I had no idea what Aya was talking about. Over a month later and I was still getting by with 8 minute temporal field naps. Of course as time went on and I tried to stay busy I stopped feeling happy with the way things were. I used to love my job. The blood and gore that made people squeamish used to make me happy. The chaos of the OR used to make me calm and now it annoyed the hell out of me. Not even yelling at the interns could cheer me up.
I was in surgery trying doing a bowel resection with Montgomery on a guy that accidentally got shot with a nail gun and fell of a fourth floor scaffolding.
"God this is something out of one of those final destination movies." Montgomery said.
"Hm." I said as I tried cauterizing bleeders.
"Okay what's going on with you lately?" Montgomery said.
"Nothing I'm just elbow deep in blood and guts and I think that's poop. The usual." I said and he looked at me not buying it. "I think I'm in a funk."
"You're in a funk?" He asked.
"Yeah. You know that movie ground hog day? With Bill Murray, he lives the same day over and over again…" I said.
"I'm familiar with it." Montgomery said.
"I feel like I'm in that movie." I said. "I mean I go to work, I yell at the intern, fix the intern's mistake, fix whatever walking jinx comes in, tell the family whether he died or not, go home watch my son sleep in his crib before going to bed and repeating. I love my job. I mean I think I do but I don't know it's boring."
"Are you kidding? Nora we're trauma surgeons. He have the most fun out of all surgeons in this place." Montgomery said. "Everyday is different and we see some of the stupidest things… I mean this guy… he was two seconds away from getting electrocuted before the paramedics got to him."
"Meh… I treated a guy that got struck by lightning in Texas." I said. "I don't know, The ER and OR used to be my happy place even when we were in Afghanistan and were getting shot at all the time I was happy. It was like what I imagined being high was like but now. It's such a chore."
"You're by far the only person I've ever heard say they miss getting shot at." Montgomery said.
"I wouldn't say that I just miss feeling…. Anything." I said. "I'm just going through the motions now."
"How long have you been feeling like this?" He asked.
"I don't know. Days… weeks… I don't really keep a journal." I said and he gave me a weird look.
We finished on the guy and I finished up the charts before giving the residents their orders for the night. It was a nice night out so I decided to go for a walk. A very long walk. I was out for a while just wandering around not really ready to go home and start our nightly movie marathon.
I wasn't really paying attention and without realizing I ended up at the exact same place I found myself at almost 65 years earlier.
177A Bleeker Street.
I had officially gone full circle.
I was debating whether or not to knock when a portal opened up behind me.
"Nora." The ancient one greeted as the portal moved to pull me into the sitting room of the Sanctum where she was already pouring us tea.
"Hi I was in the neighborhood." I said.
"I've been expecting you." She said.
"Let me guess, Aya stopped by?" I said.
"She did." She said. "A few times."
"And you're mad I've been misusing my powers and endangering the flow of time with my absurd need to stretch out every single moment of time I possibly can." I said.
"Aya did not word it as nicely but that was the general idea." The ancient one said.
"Are you going to lecture me?" I asked.
"Now why would I do such a thing?" She said. "It's not my place to interfere and as someone who has used their abilities to extend their life far longer than is usually encouraged it would be as if the pot called the kettle black."
"Well this kettle appreciates it." I said sipping my tea.
"But I do understand your reasons for doing so." She said. "Foresight is a gift and a curse. Almost a thousand years and even I am not entirely prepared for my end."
"For what it's worth, your successor has some big shoes to fill." I said.
"Aya did tell me you encountered him in the future." She said.
"That's one word for it. His bedside manner could use some work." I said.
"I'm well aware." She said with a kind smile. "He's meant to be the best of us."
"He'll be a great sorcerer, there's not a doubt about that. As a person… well you'll see." I confirmed. "You've known for centuries when your time would come to an end how do you do it? How do you get up every morning and act like it doesn't matter? Like every day is just another day?"
"Death is a part of life." She answered. "Everyone will die. I had more than 900 years to come to terms with that fact. The life of a sorcerer is one of service to the protection of the universe. We are trained to remain detached from the world we are meant to protect."
"And I'm the complete opposite." I said.
"That is not a bad thing Nora. After all the trials and loss you have had to endure you are still able to care, to love. Your humanity is the greatest gift you have to offer the world." She said. "In your lifetime you did something no one else in the entire time the universe has existed has been able to do. You made Aya genuinely care. You did more in 30 years to redeem Aya than I ever could in almost a thousand."
"That doesn't really change anything." I said.
"You can't change what's going to happen Nora, or change the fact that there are so many things you will not be able to see or do but you can change how you look at it by focusing on the things you were able to accomplish. Your life may be a shorter than you would have wanted it to be but it was a life well lived with a legacy that will live on not just in your son or grandchildren but in Aya as well." She answered. "But I can tell that was not the answer you wanted to hear."
"There are five stages to accepting death. I went through the anger and crying and bargaining wasn't even an option, I've just been numb. I'm not sad or happy or anything really and I just can't even bring myself to fake a smile." I said.
"You carry a heavy burden, one that was unfairly place you but you're also the only one strong enough to do so. My advice to you would be to make the most of the time you have left. Don't focus on doing what is expected of you, do what makes you happy and if doesn't don't. Make the most of those moments." She said.
"Do what makes me happy." I said.
"That is the best I can offer." She said.
"No it was… Good. It felt good to just say I'm going to be dead in five years out loud." I said. "We should have tea more often."
"I fear that may no longer be an option." She said and I looked at her confused. "My end is near."
"No." I said.
"It's long overdue." She said. "I am ready and I have been assured my successor is more than up to the task of keeping our dimension safe."
"Safe from other threats but from his ego?" I asked.
"He'll learn." She said confidently.
"I hope you're right." I said. "I should get going. I have to watch my son sleep for five minutes before my eight minute power nap. This is really it huh?"
"It appears so." She said. "Though I do not believe this is a permanent goodbye, more of a until we meet again."
"On the other side. They have tea there too." I said.
"I'm aware." She said with a smile. I gave her a nod before teleporting home.
Aiden was asleep on the couch and by the looks of it the jerk didn't wait for me and watched the next episode of Westworld without me. I shut off the TV and draped the couch throw over him before going upstairs.
To my surprise Wren was in his crib awake just staring up at his mobile and when he saw me he smiled and reached up for me.
"Hey buddy." I said smiling a real smile for the first time in a while as I picked him up. "You're up late." I sat down in the rocking chair and held him for a while until he fell asleep and then for a while after. After I put him down I went to my room and actually slept through the rest of the night without any time manipulation.
The next morning I woke up and it felt weird, the world just looked brighter. Birds were chirping and I didn't feel like shooting them. I woke up just in time to beat Aiden to the first dirty diaper of the day. I swear I had the cutest baby in the whole freaking world.
I was just starting with coffee when Sam ran in with the kids.
"I need help. I forgot I have a meeting with Tokyo like now and it's during their time but Connor and Ellie and the snacks for the kids international day…" Sam said panting.
"Breathe." I said handing him a cup of coffee. "You have a meeting. Ellie is in PJs and Connor has to take something for school?"
"Food for country day." Sam said and Aiden picked up Ellie before going to open the freezer.
"What country?" Aiden asked.
"It wasn't assigned just whatever but I forgot…" Sam started and Aiden tossed a few freezer bags with Belgian waffles.
"Connor you're doing Belgium." I said.
"Waffles!" he cheered.
"Okay I'm teleporting you to work." I said.
"What about the kids and Ellie is in pjs and…" Sam started.
"We've got them." Aiden said.
"Let's go." I said putting a hand on Sam's shoulder and teleporting him outside the conference room. I headed back. The toddlers were in their seats while Connor quickly looked up facts about Belgium on his tablet.
"Alright. I'm going to get this little princess dressed." I said picking up Ellie.
"Auntie I need a flag." Connor said.
"Friday?" I said.
"The flag is printing now." Friday answered.
"Keep reading I'll be back." I said going to get Ellie dressed with some of the clothes I had at the house for her.
"Uh how are we doing this?" Aiden asked.
"I'll take Connor." I said.
"Wren has Gymboree." Aiden said. "And you have work."
"I'll go in late. Drop off Ellie on the way." I said.
"Or I can just take her with me?" Aiden said.
"Two against one?" I said.
"They can't even talk yet. I've got it. Plus it'll score me some points with Phoebe." Aiden said.
"Please don't screw Wren's teacher." I said.
"What's screw?" Connor said.
"uh… when you spill coffee on someone's shirt." I said.
"Their white shirt." Aiden said.
"Oh, I screwed a lot of people." Connor said and Aiden almost choked on his coffee.
"Haven't we all." I said. "Okay Belgium. Three facts go."
"One, French fries were invented in Belgium." Connor started.
Once we were ready I teleported to Connor's school and dropped him off at his class.
"Auntie." Connor said not letting me go.
"What's wrong buddy?" I asked.
"You're not staying?" he said and I looked around. Sure enough everyone else's parents were there with their kids and were going to sit through all the presentations. There were even assigned seats for all the parents.
"I have work." I said and Connor just looked at me sadly. "But I can go in late. I don't want to miss those waffles or churros."
Connor smiled at me hugging me tight before leading me to the seats assigned for his parents. I quickly yanked off the assigned mom tag before Connor saw it. I was definitely going to have words with his teacher before I left.
I stayed for all of the presentations and the whole class singing it's a small world after they were all done. After giving his teacher a polite talking to I headed to work. I lectured a few of the interns on their crappy bedside manner before Aiden called me to ask for help as he was having trouble in Gymboree.
I took Wren while he took Ellie and we went through the exercises and songs.
I made it back dreading having to work the rest of the day only to come back to a disaster zone in the ER. Traumas at every bay. Interns running around like chicken with their heads cut off. Shouting for help and normally I loved the chaos of the ER. I thrived on it but I didn't see or hear any of it. The only thing I could here in my head was 'do what makes you happy.'
That Night…
I was having dinner with Sam, Aiden and the kids as Connor regaled us with the fun country facts he had learned that day. Aiden and I were teaching Connor a few fun phrases.
He was reached for his grape juice when it spilled onto his white sweatshirt.
"I screwed myself." Connor whined and Sam choked on his beer.
"W-what?" Sam said coughing.
"Long story." I said getting up. "Come on buddy. I need to put in a load of whites and if we hurry we might be able to save your sweater.
"Hurry auntie!" Connor said running to the laundry room. I gave him one of his spares and we got back to dinner.
"I can't thank you guys enough." Sam said. "Work has just been insane with this deal and…"
"Hey this is what family's for. Besides this has been the best day I've had in a while." I said.
"Plus Gymboree is a lot more fun with a toddler that can walk." Aiden said.
"You took the kids to Gymboree I thought you were…" Sam said turning to me.
"Work." I said.
"And you actually volunteered to go?" Sam asked Aiden.
"It's important for Wren to spend one on one time with a male role model." Aiden said and Sam didn't buy it so he turned to me.
"He's trying to screw the teacher." I said.
"That's not nice Uncle Aiden." Connor said and all the adults in the room started laughing.
"No it's really not buddy." Sam said. "Well feel free to take Ellie with you anytime. She's been spending way too much time at day care and its flu season."
"Yikes." I said teleporting him and the kids home.
"Early morning tomorrow?" Aiden asked once it was just us.
"No. No early mornings anymore." I said.
"So graveyard shift?" He said.
"No. No shifts." I said. "I quit today."
"Very funny Nora." Aiden said.
"I'm serious." I said and he looked at me finally realizing I was being serious.
"What the hell? Why would you quit? You love your job." Aiden said.
"I did but it doesn't make me happy anymore and life is way too short. I need to do things that do make me happy and lately the only thing that does make me happy are the kids. Today just made me realize that. I love surgery but I just don't love it right now. So I quit." I said.
"Well shit." Aiden said. "Good thing you're rich."
"So are you." I reminded him.
"Oh right." He said with a smile. "Well here's to doing more of what makes us happy."
"Cheers." I said clinking my beer bottle with his.
"I'm still taking Wren to Gymboree." Aiden said.
"Fine but you have to keep taking him even after you screw her. I signed up for 6 months of classes and my baby's getting 6 months of classes." I said.
"Fine." He said before turning on the TV.
I have to say quitting my job was the best thing I ever did. I never realized how much I was missing until I was around to see it all. Like how much Wren adored bath time especially when he had his yellow rubber duck. Or how Axl hovered over Wren during his tummy time.
And it wasn't just Wren. Ellie was going through a phase where she loved to fill quiet time with singing if you could even call her gibberish singing. And Connor, that kid absorbed information like a sponge.
I was just as busy as I was while I was working but I was doing things that made me happy. My new routine even freed up more time for Steve and Bucky. We were still getting our footing with the new normal. We had really started over including normal couple things like group texts, coffee dates, movie nights even game nights.
We already had a few games that were banned for life. Mostly because Aiden and I got way too competitive with monopoly.
It was a nice day out and the team had the day off since the hunt for Rumlow had gone nowhere.
We were out by the lake having a picnic. Bucky was spoiling Wren with attention and Wren was fascinated with Bucky metal arm. That thing was a life saver now that he was teething.
"Kid's growing like a weed." Bucky said settling Wren on his lap while the baby moved Bucky's hand enjoying how the sun reflected off of it.
"Tell me about it. He outgrew his stormtrooper hoodie." I said. "And I have half a box of diapers that aren't his size anymore."
"Kind of makes you miss the days of cloth diapers doesn't it?" Steve said.
"You never changed one of those diapers." Bucky said.
"Though they were better for the environment." I said.
"We should do this more often." Steve said. "Get out more. Maybe on your next day off."
"Or tomorrow. Or the next day. My schedule's wide open." I said.
"I thought Rr's are always busy?" Bucky said.
"They are but it's not my job anymore." I said handing Wren his teething toy.
"It's not?" Steve and Bucky asked at the same time.
"No. Didn't I tell you guys?" I asked.
"Tell us what?" They said at the same time again.
"I quit my job." I answered biting into a cookie.
"You did?" Bucky said surprised.
"When?" Steve said.
"Like… three almost four weeks ago?" I said.
"You quit your job a month ago and you didn't say anything?" Steve said.
"It didn't really come up until now. And we have the no work talk rule." I said.
"Wow I…" Bucky said not exactly knowing what to say.
"So are you going to work at another hospital or…" Steve started.
"No. I'm taking some time off and doing what makes me happy." I said. "Isn't that right monkey?"
"Ah!" Wren cheered.
"I never thought you would quit. You love your job. You once joked someone would have to pry the scalpel out of your cold dead hands." Bucky said.
"Yeah and I completely meant it but it was time for a change." I said. "Besides now I get to spend more time with my little man and nothing can beat that."
"I get that." Steve said smiling at Wren.
"Though you guys are also great." I said.
"Normally I'd be a bit hurt but I'm okay losing to this little guy." Bucky said as Wren blew him a raspberry making Steve laugh.
"Well if you're happy then that's all that matters." Steve said kissing the top of my head as he stood up. "I'm going to get us some ice cream and a banana for the little man since he can't have ice cream yet."
"Thank you." I said smiling as he remembered that fun fact from the baby book I had seen lying around in his office.
Through all of this dad had been MIA. He had taken the break up rather hard and did what he always did when his world came crashing, he buried himself in work. That work used to be building suits of armor to take on the bad guys of the world but since he had essentially retired from the super hero life he was now trying to save the world by providing others the means to do so, through a very well-funded scholarship fund.
He had been so busy flying back and forth from the east to west coast, getting things ready promoting new green projects talking up his new big cause that I hadn't seen him in two months. In fact I had hardly heard from him except for the random phone calls where he would ramble on and on about some random thing he saw and then ended the call abruptly thinking I had surgery to get to and hanging up before I had a chance to tell him I wasn't working anymore. It was that and a ton of voicemails he would leave in the middle of the night when he probably couldn't sleep.
So it was a big shock to me that while I was helping Connor with his math homework and Aiden was getting Ellie and Wren down for their nap that dad stormed into the house.
"You quit your job?!" He shouted.
"Hey stranger." I greeted. "Good to see you. When did you get in?"
"Don't change the subject. You quit your job?" Tony insisted.
"Yeah." I said smiling as Connor finally got his question right meaning he was finally done. "Alright bud put your things away and go tell your uncle lunch is ready."
"Yes auntie." Connor said with a smile quickly shoving his things into his bag and running out of the room giving Tony a quick hug as he ran past him.
"You quit your job." Tony said.
"We've established that." I said.
"Nora this is serious." He said. "I come back after being away for weeks, hardly hearing anything from you except a few phone calls here and there and imagine my surprise when I show up at the hospital to surprise you and I find out you quit two months ago! Two months ago!"
"It was a spur of the moment thing." I said with a shrug.
"Two months Nora and I'm just finding out about this now?" Tony said.
"Dad you haven't really been around much lately." I said.
"Two months Nora?!" He said with a sigh before taking out his phone. "Look I know some people and we have a wing at Columbia Medical with our name on it. I'm going to make some calls…"
"No." I said.
"Or I can make a donation and get you your old job back?" He offered.
"No dad I don't want any of that. I don't want my job back." I said.
"You don't… What? What do you mean you don't want your job back? You're a doctor. You love your job it's your life and you can't just…"
"I loved my job. Past tense and I do have a life outside of work." I said.
"You have a career and you're just throwing it away." He said. "Look I know everything with Snow and him bringing up your past messed with your head. I mean it happens but you can move past this. We can move past thing. I can fix you…"
"Fix me?" I said not liking where this was going.
"This is your whole life, everything you have ever worked for and just because you got a bit scared or tired doesn't mean you throw it all away. It's just a bump in the road. It happens. You had your vacation, worked through your quarter… mid… time travel… life crisis or whatever this is, you're fixed or I'll fix you it's what I do." Tony said.
"You're going to fix me?" I said. "Fix me?"
"This isn't you Nora. This isn't what you do." He started and I swear it took everything in me not to explode. Lucky for me the doorbell rang.
"I…" I started not able to even look at dad right now. "I'm going to get that."
"I'm going to make the call. There's a fundraiser this weekend. We'll go write them a big fat check and you'll be cutting people open by Monday morning." Tony said.
"Yeah you do that." I said sarcastically as I walked down the hall. I opened the door to see the last person I ever expected to be there.
"Doctor Stark." Chief Mathews said with a smile.
"Chief!" I said immediately hugging the man who chuckled as he hugged me back before I let him in. "It's so good to see you. What are you doing here?"
"I was in town to speak at Columbia maybe do some light recruiting for the next residency class when I ran into Doctor Montgomery who let it slip that you quit your job?" he said surprised.
"Not you too." I said dreading what he was about to say. It was one thing for dad to flip out but for my professional mentor and one of them men who made me the surgeon I am today to be disappointed in me… I got the chills just thinking about it.
"Huh?" Chief Matthews said confused before dad marched in.
"Okay I made the call. It's a gala black tie, gown the whole thing. We're going I got us a seat at the table with their chief of surgery. You'll charm the pants off of him, I write a check and that'll fix everything." Dad said before noticing I wasn't alone. "It'll be like this never happened. Uh hi."
"Dad this is my mentor and former boss from Dallas, Doctor Richard Matthews. Chief this is my father. Tony Stark." I said.
"Nice to finally put a face to the mysterious and elusive father Nora always talked about." Chief Matthews said shaking dad's hand. "You have an amazing daughter."
"I can't take all the credit there…" Dad said.
"Or any." I muttered.
"But thank you and it's good to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you." Dad said.
"Well I was just passing through to say Hi. And maybe to see if you would have lunch with me tomorrow or the day after to catch up. I'm here until the end of the week." Chief said.
"Lunch tomorrow sounds great. I'll email you the reservation details." I said.
"Looking forward to it." He said before I led him to the door.
"Didn't know you were that close to your old boss." Dad said after he was gone.
"Are you kidding? That man is like a father to me." I said without realizing who I was telling that to. "You know professionally."
"Right." Tony said. "That was nice of him. He's probably here to poach you back."
"Probably. He did offer me a pretty sweet raise and promotion to convince me to stay." I said.
"He did?" Tony said.
"I am that good." I said with a smirk. "But I'm not really looking for a job."
"Right because you already have a job waiting for you at Columbia." Tony said.
"No because I don't need one." I said.
"You need a job Nora." He said before gesturing around me.
"I have a job. Here at home." I said.
"You need a real job. Whatever this is, I'm going to fix it." Tony said.
"Fix what? There's nothing to fix." I said.
"You! I'm going to fix you!" Dad said frustrated. "Because this isn't what you do. I don't know if this is some side effect of time travel, burn out, depression or PTSD or whatever but I'm fixing it."
"Dad." I started.
"No. Don't make plans for Saturday. I'll send a dress so dust off your resume." Dad said before storming out.
"What the fuck?" I said not understanding what the hell just happened.
The Following Day…
While Wren and Aiden were at Gymboree I headed out to lunch with my former boss. I had spent the morning preparing for that lunch more than I ever did when I was getting sued for medical negligence to avoid another negative reaction.
I chose Sam's favorite bistro since everyone always liked it.
"Nora." Chief Matthews greeted me with a hug before he looked around slightly disappointed. "No baby? I thought I was finally going to the little man."
"Sorry but Wren had his baby Gymboree class." I said. "Aiden took him thought it would be better for us to catch up."
"Is Aiden your boyfriend?" He asked.
"Oh no. No no. no." I said. "He's my brother in law."
"Brother in law? As in Wren's…" he started.
"Brother. Yeah. He had a brother." I said. "Found that out a few months after we got married, it was a complicated situation but they worked it out towards the end and he's a great uncle."
"Well I'm glad you have someone and your father is around more." Chief Matthews said.
"It's been an adjustment." I said.
"I can imagine. It's not everyday your former student appears on TV, with the avengers because apparently she has super powers?" He said. "Though that would explain a lot."
"You don't know the half of it." I said.
"Kind of like you quitting your job out of the blue?" He said.
"I knew this was coming." I said.
"I have to ask is this one of those kid geniuses finally snapping under the pressure and spiraling because it was all too much? I thought it might happen when you got sued but Wren said he was handling it so I wasn't… but should I be worried?" Chief Matthews said.
"No. I love surgery and my job. I mean there is no feeling like seeing a transplanted heart beat for the first time but it just doesn't make me as happy as it used to. I worked long hours, and would only see my son in the morning during my early morning workout or when he's asleep when I got home. My days were repetitive and I was miserable and I realized that the only thing that could get me to smile was when I saw my son smile at me. I was missing being a part of his life for a job that wasn't making me happy anymore. I grew up without my dad around because he was too busy with work, parties and models and I didn't want that for Wren so I quit." I said.
"Well as far as good reasons go that's the best one to have." Chief Matthews said. "I gave up my chance to have a family because I chose my job over everything and I don't regret it but I would be lying if said there weren't times I wondered what my life would be if I hadn't."
"I want to be there for all the little moments and I'm not quitting forever. In a few years when Wren starts school I'll go back. Maybe in a position where I can spare myself from all the extra paperwork but until then I'm okay working from home." I said.
"I'm glad to hear that and you know there is always a position waiting for you back in Dallas." He said.
"I know and I appreciate it but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be for now. That being said if you ever need an extra pair of hands to help out, you know so I don't get rusty." I said.
"I'm glad you say that because I might need you sooner rather than later." He said handing me a file.
"Is it a good one?" I asked.
"You should be fairly familiar with this one." He said.
And boy was I. It was the first patient I had ever treated after coming back from Afghanistan. An eight year old who was now almost 13 with a congenital heart defect that I diagnosed it was how I ended up with a second specialty in cardiothoracic surgery.
"Still on the transplant list with no luck." I said.
"You know how it is. Especially with a rare blood type." Chief Matthews said. "But she held on. She's a strong kid."
"That she is." I said. "Are these charts up to date?"
"They're the most recent ones we have." He said. "They recommended a…"
"Pulmonary valve transplant. I recommended that when she came in but she wasn't in critical enough condition to even consider it not to mention there are only like two surgeons in the country that can do it. One of them is at Stanford and the other last I heard was was doing research at the Mayo Clinic." I said.
"Technically three." He corrected himself.
"Really?" I said.
"It's not a job offer I just thought considering you were there in the beginning you'd want to be the one to cross the finish line." He said. "I already made some calls and the other two are booked solid and wouldn't be able to fly out to treat her and the family could travel but…"
"What kind of monster would make a little girl with a bad heart fly across the country when her heart could give out at any moment?" I said.
"I wouldn't say that but it is a possibility." He said and I sighed.
"I'm not promising anything because I can't be sure she's even a candidate for the procedure…" I started.
"But if she is?" he asked.
"Then I'll teleport myself to Dallas and do the procedure. I'll even teach one of the residents or fellows how to do it so they can become the fourth person that knows how to do it." I said.
"You'll have the test results in your email by tomorrow morning." He reassured me.
"I know I will. And while you're here in New York I'd love to have you over for dinner. You can meet Wren and Aiden, and I know Sam would love to see you too." I said.
"I would like that very much." He said.
Later that day…
I was at home relaxing playing with Wren on the floor as he was finally able to sit up and was currently chewing on his toy blocks when there was a knock at the door.
"I swear your uncle would forget his head if it wasn't attached to his neck." I told Wren as I picked him up before going to open the door.
"Miss Stark." A woman said pulling in a rack of dresses into my house without even waiting for me to let her in. "There's so much to do and not enough to do it. You need to try on and select your dress so we can get it altered to fit you perfectly by Saturday…"
"Excuse me?" I said.
"Your dress for the gala? This would be easier if I had your measurements on hand but since you rarely go out and since you had your son I don't know…" She started.
"Okay. I think you heard wrong because I'm not going to any gala." I said. "In fact I'm not going anywhere so I don't need a dress…"
"Your father said…" She started.
"My father told you so you should go sort that out with him. Also pushing your way into someone's home without their permission especially when they don't know who you are is trespassing and also gives me legal permission to blast you." I said making my hand glow and the stylist pale. "Do you want to get blasted?"
She shook her head at a loss for words.
"Then get the hell out of my house." I said and she quickly scurried out running for her life.
I went back to tummy time ignoring any phone calls from dad and made sure to let Friday know I didn't want to talk to him.
That night we had dinner with Chief Matthews who couldn't stop staring at how much Wren looked like his father. Dad had kept trying to call me, at one point he even hacked into the house speaker system which I had retaliated by locking him out of every lab at the tower and the compound for two days until he figured out what the password was. It was please.
I was having date night with Steve and Bucky. A park not too far away from the compound was having a movie on the lawn event and they were going to be showing The Breakfast Club which for some reason neither of the super soldiers had seen.
"Okay so I packed gummies, popcorn both butter and kettle, ice cream from that little shop you both like and the picnic blanket." I said teleporting into the common room. "I'll pick up the pizza when its' ready but for now we should go get a spot…."
Steve and Bucky immediately stopped talking.
"Am I interrupting something?" I asked.
"No!" They both quickly said.
"Okay I'm just going to point out that you two keeping secrets isn't really great for the relationship built trust thing we're trying to do here but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and give you a chance to tell me before the end of date night." I said putting a hand on their shoulders and teleporting us to the park.
Bucky had gotten used to teleporting pretty quickly but Steve was still not a fan.
"Uh…" He said feeling a bit nauseous as he stumbled a bit.
"Close your eyes." I said walking him through it as I started setting up out spot. We were still a bit early but there were a few families sitting around getting settled. Once Steve was sitting down I went to go pick up the pizza and came back to the two of them bickering again. "It's really hard not to pretend you weren't talking about me."
"We were but…" Steve started.
"We were wondering." Bucky said exchanging nervous glances with Steve. "If maybe you'd want to make date night end a little later than usual?"
"I could do a late dinner." I said.
"We were thinking later than that. Like after breakfast tomorrow morning." Steve said.
"That's… Oh!" I said finally getting what they meant. In the months since we had started this we hadn't gone past some light making out. Well shit I could have used a bit more of a heads up so I could put in a bit more of an effort. Like wear a real bra instead of a sports bra and maybe gone for my wax yesterday instead of pushing it to this weekend.
"There's no pressure." Bucky said.
"Completely up to you." Steve said.
"Wow uh… I kind of can't. I left Wren with Sam since Aiden was going out. Three against one for bed time is a bit unfair." I said.
"Right." Steve said trying to hide his disappointment.
"Maybe another time then." Bucky said.
"Yeah." I said.
The rest of the night was pretty quiet. Movie dates are perfect for avoiding serious talks and despite that Steve and Bucky did enjoy the movie, It was a classic for a reason.
"You were right Doll, best 80's movie ever." Bucky said.
"It made me want to try and slide on the hallway floors. Maybe we can find a freshly waxed floor?" Steve said.
"That could be fun." I said before I looked at the time. "But it'll have to be another time. I have to go pick up my son and save my brother from World War III."
"There you are." Dad said storming in. He was wearing a tux and looked mad. "Where the hell have you been?"
"It's Saturday so date night." I said.
"It's Saturday. Saturday? You know the day of the gala we're supposed to be at? The gala we're going so that you can save your career from imploding?" Dad said. "You ditched your dress fitting and you weren't there when I want to pick you up…"
"Because I wasn't going to go." I said. "I was never going to go."
"Well a little head up would have been nice." He snarked.
"I did tell you. When you stormed into my house and you started making calls I didn't want you to make to begin with." I said.
"I'm trying to fix your mess." Tony said.
"What mess?" I said.
"You! You quitting your job throwing away your whole life because of some stupid mid life time travel crisis! I fixing you by fixing…" Tony started.
"There you go again." I said.
"You're not thinking straight and your judgement…" he started.
"My judgement?" I said as he continued ranting. "My judgement?! Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
"You're a mess and you can't just blow up your whole life…" he said.
"Would you shut up?! You don't know anything about me or my life. I'm not doing anything wrong." I said.
"You quit your job!" He shouted.
"Because I wasn't happy!" I said. "I'm good at it and I was at the top of my field but that didn't make me happy so I'm doing something that does. You would know that if you ever shut for a minute and actually listened!"
"This isn't you. Something is wrong and I can fix whatever this is." Tony insisted.
"That! That right there! You keep saying you're going to fix me. Like there's something wrong with me. Like I'm broken but I'm not. Just because I don't do something the way you would do doesn't make it wrong. I'm not something that needs to be fixed. I'm my own damn person who can make her own decisions. I don't need to be fixed, I'm not something that needs to be fixed, my life doesn't need to be fixed!" I said.
"Nora you're making a huge mistake." He said. "You don't see it right now but…"
"Stop! You don't get it. This right here. What you're doing right now, this is why Pepper dumped you." I said and dad froze. "You keep saying you're going to change, that you're going to listen. You haven't listened to a word I've said in months. You call and talk and talk and talk not letting me get a word in. If you had actually listened you would have known that I wasn't happy at work for a really long time. That I quit because I wanted to be around for Wren and Connor and Ellie's milestones, for all the little moments because my job isn't my life, my kids are. I don't want them to grow up the way I did knowing that I was never a priority because that feels pretty shitty."
"You think that now but…" he started.
"The last time you tried to fix something that wasn't broken you almost destroyed the world. Just because your life is falling apart doesn't mean mine is." I said. "Figure your shit out and butt out of mine."
With that I teleported to Sam's house.
After putting Wren down and picked up my tablet and started looking through the charts and results I had gotten from Dallas and boy was it everything Chief Matthews said it was. The surgery they were proposing was rare for a reason. Not everyone would be a candidate. Taking a part of the respiratory tract to create a new valve, essentially creating a part of a heart from another part of the body.
But from the scans and EKG I was looking at, it might not be enough.
I used Friday to create a 3D hologram model based on the scans and I just stared at it. Watching it beat incorrectly. I think I was staring at it for hours by the time Aiden walked in.
"Is this what you felt like when you came home to me almost killing Snow's men? Because I think I understand why it bothered you now." Aiden said.
"It's uh… for that case Doctor Matthews asked me to consult on." I said.
"You mean the case with that super rare surgery only you and two other old guys know how to do?" Aiden asked.
"That's the one." I said.
"It looks… like a heart." He said confused. "But I'm guessing there's more to it."
"Just listen to the heart beat." I said and we were quiet.
"There's an extra squelch." Aiden said.
"And that's the problem. That valve formed incorrectly and caused damage causing the irregular sound you hear. This entire part here." I said waving my hand. "Is working in reverse, causing the muscle to overwork itself and damage the rest as well as other issues down the line. The damage is way worse than expected."
"So you can't do the surgery?" Aiden said.
"I can just not the way it's meant to be done." I said.
"Guessing that means retirement is over?" Aiden said.
"Oh no. I'm retiring, I'm just going out with a bang." I said. "A really big one."
"I'm not sure you should use the word bang when you're talking about a kid's heart." He said.
"No it's the right word for what I'm planning." I said with a smile.
So the next morning I teleported to Dallas and presented my surgical plan to Doctor Matthews who was enthusiastically in agreement thought he still had to get the board to approve it before we could even present it to the parents. It was less than three days later when the approval came in. the parents while skeptical understood this was the best chance.
There was just one tiny little thing…
"You're moving?" Steve and Bucky said.
"Guys." I said over dinner as they flipped out.
"B-but I thought we were okay." Steve said. "We were doing so good."
"I thought you quit?" Bucky said.
"Okay guys. I quit my job and this is just a favor and a surgery for a little girl with a broken heart. She literally has a broken heart." I said. "It's just a few weeks while we get things ready."
"But Dallas?" Bucky said. "Why don't you just teleport?"
"Because I need to get adjusted to the time difference and I want to be close by in case anything comes up." I said. "It's just a few weeks. A month tops and nothing's really going to change. I'll teleport here for date night or I can pick you up and take you to Dallas whenever you want. Technically it's not even long distance."
"Are you sure it's just one surgery?" Steve said. "And that this has nothing to do with your fight with Tony?"
"My fight with dad has nothing to do with it." I said. "This is one last surgery before I retire. One and done. Besides I have some big retirement plans with my little man."
"If you say so. How'd Aiden take the news?" Bucky asked.
"Pretty well. Something about finally getting a chance to deep clean the floors." I said. "I really hope that's code for he's going to throw an orgy or something because he's one DIY from turning into Martha Stuart."
"Have you tried talking to Tony?" Steve said.
"Ew no." I said. "He's doing his own thing and staying out of my business."
Steve just gave me a look.
"Choose your next words very carefully." I said warning him. Moments like these were normally when Steve stuck his foot in his mouth and said something really dumb.
"It's nothing. Just slightly glad to know I'm not the only one you yell at like that." he chuckled and Bucky just gave him a look that screamed 'you fucking idiot'. "I mean not that I didn't deserve it because I did."
"You did but it needed to happen. Keeping things bottled up is not healthy." I said. "And look at us now. Better than ever."
"Yeah." Bucky said smiling.
"Speaking of I was thinking for date night this weekend we could go to the Hamptons. Enjoy the beach, they're having a food and beer fest this weekend. I can get Aiden to take Wren over night and we can make a weekend out of it." I offered.
"You mean the three of us. Alone. The whole weekend?" Bucky said smiling.
"Unless you guys already have pla…" I started.
"No!" they both said.
"Awesome. I just bought this really cute bikini I haven't gotten a chance to use." I said.
"Really." Bucky said with a smirk.
"Mhm." I hummed.
"It's been a while since I've been to the beach." Steve said completely oblivious. Bucky looked like he wanted to slap Steve on the side of the head.
"It's a date then." I said kissing Bucky's cheek before I got up.
"Oh and Steve." I said. "There's going to be fondue. And I don't mean cheese."
With that I kissed his cheek before teleporting home.