Christie managed to make it back to her apartment as soon as she could, thanks to the extremely fast wheels of a random civilian's motorbike. He wasn't overly happy about her taking it at first, but a swift cheque made out to him for a generous sum of money soon soothed his anger - he even waved her off with a slightly overexcitable 'GOOD LUCK!'
Truthfully, Christie wasn't sure whether S.H.I.E.L.D's cheques would even cash anymore since the company legally didn't exist - but she didn't even have the tie to stop and think about it.
She arrived back home in record time and hopped off the bike before running to her hidden back entrance, which was designed for moments like this, as it was covered in brambles and bushes. She shoved them out the way, not caring about pricking her fingers, and used the fingerprint keypad so that she could get in silently. Once she was securely inside she whipped out her pistol and crept down her secret set of stairs, holding her breath in case she saw something threatening.
Once she reached the door to get into her actual apartment however - she didn't expect to see what she did.
There was a young woman with two white stripes in her dark head of hair walking around her apartment, her hands running over the sleek decor in wonder; a man with a red visor on picking up every single one of Christie's devices and flipping them over carelessly; and finally there was a pretty woman with silvery hair pacing up and down anxiously, looking completely baffled-
"Don't bother making any sudden movements, bub," came a sharp voice from behind Christie, as she suddenly felt three cold steel blades pressed right up against her neck. But instead of feeling fear, Christie simply rolled her eyes at the pure nerve of him. The handful of intruders looked up at the sound of his threat too, all of them now poised for action.
"Very bold and stupidly cheeky statement, bastard, considering you're the ones trespassing," she hissed back, angling her hand behind her to press the barrel of her pistol up against his sturdy abdomen.
"Wait - this is your house?" the woman with the silver hair frowned, taking a few uncertain steps towards to her.
"It is indeed, hun. Now I don't mean to sound rude or anything but - who the f*ck are you lot and what the bloody hell are you doing here?"
"Listen, we're not here for any trouble - we're just trying to find our friend, and she must've been here because my bike is also here and she took it," the visored man grunted, stepping forward with a folded photograph in his hands. Christie took one look at the picture before letting out the largest sigh of her life, immediately realising who they were looking for.
"Ash? You're here to get Ashley back?" she blinked in boredom, their sweet heroic sentiment not quite working on her.
"So you do know her?" came an undeniably Southern drawl from the white streaked haired girl.
"Know her?" Christie repeated dryly. "Wow. That burns. I take it my father didn't tell you all about me, then? I mean ,I can't say I'm too surprised-"
"Your father? Who are you? Who's your father?" the first woman quizzed her quickly. Christie tapped the arm of the man holding her to indicate that he could let go, which he very reluctantly did. This allowed her to slip into her kitchen, to rustle through one of her drawers and pull out an old picture. She quickly flipped it round so that the little group could see with a bored sigh. The picture was of a small Ashley hugging an even smaller Christie at a family wedding, where they were both flower girls with lopsided flower crowns on their heads. Ashley was lovingly kissing Christie's cheek and Christie had a huge toothless grin on her face.
It was Christie's favourite picture, but for a good few years she had found it too hard to look at.
"Oh, my, god!" Rogue gasped, rushing into the kitchen to get a closer look. "That's…that's Ashley alright! And she's with-"
"Me, and she's with me, yes. Ashley is my older sister. Surprise!" Christie announced sarcastically as she wiggled her slim fingers in the air.
"Sister?! Since when?!" Scott yelped, completely taken aback.
"Around the year 1991, give or take a few months," Christie responded slickly as she safely stored the photo back into the drawer and bumped it closed with her hip. "Seriously though - my father really said nothing? Nothing at all? He really had you all thinking he'd only ever had one kid? I'd expect that from Ashley but…" It was clear Christie was somewhat hurt about it - she was trying not to appear that way but it was blatantly written all over her face, and Storm could see that.
"Nope. We didn't know the professor had another daughter - our apologies," yawned the man who had first captured her on arrival. Christie let out a disappointed laugh and decided to fetch herself a glass of water, feeling her throat grow dangerously dry by the second.
She knew that she and her father disliked each other - but to this extent?
"So that's why he didn't freak out when Director Fury told him that Ashley was bunking with an assassin all those months ago," Scott murmured, voluntarily slamming himself down on Christie's sofa and holding his head in his hands.
"I'm guessing so. Glad it's finally all making sense for ya, sunshine," Christie murmured against the rim of the glass. "So again I ask - who are you guys?"
"I'm Storm, this is Logan, Scott and Marie…well, she goes by Rogue," the silver haired girl introduced herself with a humble nod. "We're so sorry to break into your beautiful home, but we-"
"Speaking of - how did you do that? State of the art my arse, Coulson," Christie muttered bitterly as she placed the empty glass down.
"We're mutants - we have our ways-" Scott replied mysteriously.
"I broke your lock system," Logan answered bluntly. Suddenly, he extracted his infamous blades from his fists so that Christie could see them firsthand - and she couldn't help but hang her mouth couldn't open in awe. She was visibly impressed.
"You, my good sir…are badass," she couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head in wonder. She genuinely couldn't tear eyes from the blades.
"Thanks," Logan smirked back as he retracted his claws again. "So, just to reiterate because some people are still refusing to believe it - Ashley is safe here, right?"
"Yup. Can confirm that Ashley is perfectly fine," Christie confirmed with a solid nod, leaning against her dark kitchen counter. But Scott still glanced over at Storm, who blinked over at Rogue, who looked with uncertainty over at Logan. Christie clamped an exasperated hand over her forehead and let out a groan of disbelief, unsure of how they managed to get any missions done when they were this dependant on each other to make one simple decision. "Oh guys please, you've travelled all the way down here and broken into someone's home to find out if Ashley's safe and I literally just confirmed that she is! In fact, couldn't my darling father just confirm those doubts without you having to do all this extra stuff? Or was it his slimy bald head that sent you here in the first place?"
"Not exactly…I mean technically, we never actually told him that we were tracking her in the first place," Storm admitted a little ashamedly, staring at the black carpeted floor beneath her feet. "Plus, Ashley blocked him out of her head a long time ago. She didn't leave on…the best of terms with him."
"Good girl," Christie hummed proudly, making Storm look back up at her with a small frown. "Very good girl indeed. But seriously, you lot have absolutely nothing to worry about. I just had lunch with her a few minutes ago - I'll even tell her to give you a call once she gets back from her hot date."
"Date?!" Logan, Storm and Marie repeated loudly. Scott, however, said nothing - he just stared blandly ahead of him.
Well, she assumed he was doing so anyway. She couldn't exactly see his eyes.
"Yes, a date. That is how fine she's doing. She went and found herself an absolute babe of a guy," Christie smirked proudly with sparkling eyes, making Marie grin proudly. "In fact - she should be getting ready to meet him as we speak."
And Ashley was indeed getting ready to meet Steve.
She'd showered yet again and curled her hair properly before slipping into her newly made dress, praying to God that it fit - and it did, it fit her perfectly. How her aunt got her measurements so accurately in all of a few minutes, she had no idea - but she was grateful for the mutation. She put on a full face of makeup again, but this time went for a softer version of the birthday look, swapping the deep red lipstick for a clear shimmering gloss and leaving the smoky eye for a sweet smudge of baby pink. She was so jittery that she could barely put on her eyeliner without shaking hands, so she just went for lashes instead. The time was swiftly and scarily nearing closer to 7, so she grabbed her jacket, shoved on her shoes and gave Lady Bucky a sweet kiss on her little snoozing head before bustling out of her room and into the living room, choosing to wait for Steve there instead.
Much to her surprise though, sitting in the living room was Pepper and Natasha, chatting about something together with hushed voices.
Once they looked up and saw Ashley walk out, the conversation stopped and their mouthes dropped.
"WOAH hello there sexy lady! Where are you going?" Pepper gasped cheekily.
"On a date," Ashley giggled back. She couldn't help but start blushing at those three words alone, and their added gasps just made the entire situation ten times more exciting.
"With…?" Natasha whispered, praying that it was who she was hoping. Ashley tried to answer her question - but quickly found herself being interrupted by the lift doors pinging open. It revealed an extremely apprehensive looking Steve, dressed in a smart white shirt and dark jeans, holding the most beautiful bouquet of pure white roses in his hands.
7 o'clock on the dot.
Steve's eyes fell onto Ashley immediately and his lips couldn't help but part open in surprise, whilst Pepper and Natasha grabbed each other, held their breaths and eagerly awaited his verbal response.
"Wow," Steve finally shook his head at her, utterly amazed. "You look absolutely…beautiful, Ashley."
"Aww, thank you Steve," Ashley tittered girlishly, nervously making her way over to him too. She was certainly feeling the butterflies, they were literally alive and kicking in her stomach and she couldn't even deny it. Steve placed his hand on the small of her back, leaned in and kissed her cheek as a greeting, causing Ashley's breath to hitch dangerously in her throat. She felt that simply breathing would ruin the tender moment between them at this point, whilst. Pepper and Natasha exchanged smirks and bit back the excited screams they so desperately wanted to release.
"These…are for you," Steve announced to her with a small smile, passing the flowers over to her politely. Ashley jutted out her bottom lip, taking them from him and burying her nose into the petals.
"Wow, thank you - they're absolutely gorgeous," she cooed once she lifted her head again. Steve dipped his head bashfully at how pleased she was, whilst Pepper and Natasha just smirked at each other and kept steadily silent.
"You ready to go? The car's waiting right outside," he nudged her gently, holding out his arm for her to take. Ashley shot one last excited look over to the two women watching them before nodding and taking his broad arm so that they could leave.
And in that moment, she felt as if that was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life - attached to him forever.
"Here," Pepper suddenly hopped up from the sofa and skidded over to them in her fluffy pink socks, "let me put these flowers in some water for you Ash…you guys go, go and have fun!"
"Thanks Pep," Ashley beamed dreamily, before remembering something else. "Oh! Lady Bucky has her food and stuff, but she might need cuddles later this evening-"
"Food covered, cuddles needed - got it!" Pepper confirmed quickly as she began to bustle them both back into the lift with her one free hand. "You guys go!"
"AND ENJOY!" Natasha shouted from where she was still seated on the sofa with wine. Steve and Ashley stepped into the lift together and watched the doors close in front of them, leaving them in a comfortable silence as JARVIS took them to the ground floor where the car awaited.
"Oh, I haven't even asked - where are we actually going tongith?" Ashley suddenly spoke up, interrupting the soothing silence between them both.
"Well…there's this new Thai restaurant that opened up down the block - so I thought we should try it out?" Steve told her a little uncertainly, only just realising that he had never actually asked if she even wanted that. He kind of just planned it with Christie and left it there.
"Thai food? Oh I loveeee Thai food!" Ashley gushed delightedly, causing Steve to breathe a sigh of undeniable relief.
"Trust me, I'm extremely glad to hear," he told her honestly with a smirk as the lift doors opened again, revealing Stark's vast car-park like garage. They both stepped out and Steve led her towards the car. "It's just over there - I wanted to get a driver for us but you know…difficult to trust anyone to transport two Avengers anywhere and Louis was working tonight so sadly, you're pretty much stuck with me."
"Oh trust me, that isn't a bad thing, Rogers," Ashley giggled back once they reached the sweet deep blue Audi. Steve clicked it open and rushed ahead of Ashley to open the passenger door for her, making her blush once again.
She was in utter disbelief - chivalry like this was hard to come by, but it was as if the perfect man had been suddenly dropped straight into her lap.
"Thank you!" she beamed as she carefully lowered herself into the car. Steve shut the door behind her before making his way over to slide into the drivers seat too. "This is such a cute car," Ashley hummed as she looked around her. The car was ridiculously clean and smelt pleasant.
"Thanks, it was a gift…" Steve explained as he started to reverse out of the garage and into the reasonably empty night streets. "…from the President of Russia."
"Ha! Must be nice," Ashley let out a laugh.
"It was incredibly generous of him," Steve agreed reasonably with a wince, his eyes on the roads, "but…I don't know. I always feel so awkward when people gift me with extravagant things."
"Didn't you just give me a kitten for my birthday after only knowing me for a few months?" Ashley reminded him with a light laugh, making him chuckle back.
"I'm a giver not a taker, what can I say?" Ashley smiled at him and gave him a playful scoff, before focussing back on the sights ahead of her.
"Oh! Can I put on the radio?" she suddenly asked with twinkling eyes. Steve shot her a confused glance over but shrugged and nodded, allowing her to click on the first station. Immediately, the smooth sounds of 'Dontcha' by The Internet bled through the speakers, causing Ashley to gasp and clasp her hands together in joy. "Oh my god, this is my favourite song!"
"It is? Never heard of it," Steve admitted, turning it up a little and bopping his head to the beat. "The groove is nice though."
"Wait you've never heard…oh my god of course you haven't!" Ashley breathed in disbelief, slamming a hand on her chest dramatically. "Not sure how you're coping, Steve. I can't imagine living in a world where The Internet doesn't exist!"
"Wait, is that their name? The Internet?" Steve frowned over at her before redirecting his eyes back onto the road, "I only just found out about the actual internet recently, so yeah - I'm incredibly behind." Ashley giggled and swayed her shoulders to the music, hearing the last few lyrics fade out.
"Dontcha, dontcha, dontcha, want meee," she sang to herself quietly, totally in her element with her eyes fluttered closed. Steve nudged his head to the side as if to say 'welll…' - but obviously, Ashley didn't catch it. She was too busy eagerly awaiting the next track, hoping it was at least half as good. It was '7/11', Beyonce's newest song. "Woah, I bet you don't know who Beyonce is either! Damn…you have so much to catch up on…" she suddenly muttered a little sadly, turning to face Steve again.
"That I have," Steve sighed back heavily. "I still can't believe how much everything's changed. It's so crazy and a little frightening, honestly."
"Yeah, I can imagine," Ashley assured him, licking her bottom lip as she contemplated whether or not to say the next part of her thoughts.
But she quickly decided to go for it - she may never get this opportunity again, after all.
"Wouldn't it be easier to experience all that new old stuff…with someone?" Steve scoffed at her words and kept his eyes firmly on the road ahead.
"Yeah, but finding someone with the same life experience is a little harder than you think, Ashley," he muttered tiredly. Ashley cocked her head to the side in contemplation, unsure of where to go from there.
"But you asked me out on a date. So…wait, does that mean you think that I have the same life experience as a 75 year old man?" she smirked, poking his bulging bicep playfully. Steve shot a small smile in her direction and shrugged again.
"Well…no offence," he grinned.
"None taken - I think," Ashley frowned back nonchalantly as they pulled up to the newly furbished Thai restaurant.
...
a/n: hmmmm do we think the date's gonna go well? that is the question...(thank you for your reviewssss you lovely people!)
