Slight movement and the rustling noise of another person started to bring me up gently from a deep slumber. As I started to become aware of reality again, I pried my bleary eyes open, and made out the golden form of Steve Rogers, repetitively bending to touch his toes, doing his morning calisthenics.
My eyes cast about for the clock. 5:45 am. I groaned. Of course Captain America is a morning person.
My movement caught his attention.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Steve greeted me. "Are you ready to start the day?"
All right. I tried to piece together my faculties, aiming to form an intelligible response. I managed some words. But, my sleep-addled brain must have been not quite up to the task, because Steve just laughed and said "Never mind," and bent to kiss me gently on the forehead, "take your time."
He finished his last set of repetitions, waiting for me to fully come awake. But must have decided that after the fifteen minutes that it took him, during which I had only managed to stare at the wall, he would just move on with his day and let me catch up with him later.
"I've got to meet Sam for a run. We'll be back after eight. Make yourself at home. Anything in my suite is yours, and there should be a few people milling about the common area making breakfast soon."
He waited patiently and I fought the fog clouding my brain, managing a smile and a "yes... thanks." And he slipped out to start his day.
After he had gone, I finally swam up through the last strata of sleep, and all the things I could have, should have, said earlier filled back in. Good morning, would have been a start. Sorry, I'm a slow waker. He probably figured out himself. Thank you, I'll be up soon, would have been helpful. Don't worry, I'll find my way around. Maybe Thanks for making me feel so welcome. Or, I love you.
Too late now. I'd just have to make up for lost opportunities later. I padded to the ensuite, showering and dressing quickly to try to catch up with my day.
I tidied up the belongings that I had brought from my cabin, not unpacking, but not exactly not not unpacking either. We were going to have to sort out some logistics, and soon.
With nothing left to do, and a craving for morning caffeine driving me forward, I steeled myself and exited the suite. Steve's door was near the end of a short corridor that opened into the Avengers' private common area. There was a modern, yet comfortable lounging area in the centre, with a large table and chairs to the left and an open kitchen area to the right. I could smell the aroma of fresh coffee brewing and made my way over there.
A young woman was adding water to a pot at the sink, with her back to me, but turned to set it on the stove, noticing me entering the room.
"Good morning, you must be Rachael. I'm Wanda, and this is Vision," she said gesturing to the distinctly red gentleman (gentle-android?) seated on the other side of the island.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm not intruding am I?"
"Not at all. I was just finishing making some oatmeal. You can keep me company. Everyone else ate before they went out, and Vis here doesn't eat at all."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. While I do not eat, as Wanda explained, I do think that I can carry on appropriate breakfast conversation." I didn't know what I was expecting from whatever it was that Vision had become, but my first impression was genial politeness.
Wanda shared up a heaping bowl of porridge, I helped myself to some coffee from the pot, and we sat down to share a meal together.
I was a little unsure what my role was supposed to be here. I didn't want to just bail on them but I had my own things to get on to.
"I'm not sure how your mornings here go, but I'm supposed to meet Tony and Dr. Cho at 8:30 in the main assembly hall. That's just one floor down from here, isn't it?"
"Yes," Wanda answered. "We've got a regular training day scheduled, so we're meeting Steve and the rest of the crew there at the same time. They're doing their morning conditioning right now. Vis and I get to bow out because we can fly. I do still need to keep in shape, but I prefer swimming to running laps at dawn."
"I can't say I blame you."
We continued making small talk over breakfast, then tidied up and headed down to the assembly hall. When we arrived, Clint and Natasha were already there. They greeted us politely. I'd made Clint's acquaintance over the course of that quarantine week in the lab, as he had been in frequently to consult with Steve over their mission. Although, that week had been such a flurry of activity, I hadn't gotten to know either him or Natasha very well, beyond general introductions.
I let out a small sigh of relief as Helen and Anna arrived. Not that the Avengers weren't being perfectly pleasant, but they were Avengers. I was glad to have some intermediaries who knew us both to break the general air of cool politeness. The arrival of Tony Stark shook things up even more.
I felt a brush of fresh air from behind me, as an outside door opened and closed. I turned, and it was Steve, coming in with Sam close behind him. He strode straight up to me, a lopsided grin on his handsome face, and captured my hand in his. I could feel all the eyes in the room swivel towards us.
"Have you told them?" he asked.
"No, not yet."
"We're getting married," he announced loudly, in such a way that I could tell he had barely been holding it in.
The crowd around us broke into raucous congratulations, as Steve pulled me in close to his side.
The reactions ranged from cautious to satisfied based on how well each person knew us as a couple. Clint and Wanda looked a little surprised. Natasha had a knowing smile on her face, and Anna looked like the cat that ate the canary.
Steve and I broke apart as various well-wishers pulled us in opposite directions. Sam was clapping Steve roughly on the back, and kept repeating "My man, my man," at him, as Helen pulled me aside to quietly tell me how happy she was for us.
Clint welcomed Steve into the "ranks of the permanently hitched," while Anna went around spreading cheer, and generally taking credit for the whole thing.
"Well," Tony broke out, "The Boyscout and Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes. I can think of worse matches. I'm sure you'll be very happy with each other. This calls for champagne." He cast about looking for someone he could rope into fetching it.
"It's not even nine a.m., Tony," Natasha deadpanned.
"What of it?" he paused hoping someone would take the bait. When no one did, he continued smoothly, "Rain-cheque it is, then."
"Welcome to the team," Sam told me, grasping my hand in his. "I look forward to getting to know you better."
"Speaking of," Tony said, "We'll have to get you set up here. There's some space near Helen's lab where we can build an extension, and I've been reading up on your recent publications. It's very interesting work that you're doing with microbes and chemical immutability. I can think of a dozen applications that would slot right in to our other research here."
"Nice try, Tony. I've seen how you lure people onto your payroll every time there's a crisis. You're not poaching me that easily. I'm not about to just abandon my department at Damage Control."
"But just think how much easier things would be for you to work at the same location as Steve."
"We'll make it work somehow. I'm not prepared to give up my lab, or just hand my department off to someone else."
"Can't fault me for trying. What about a Damage Control satellite campus? The downtown facility's getting crowded anyhow. It wouldn't even be on the taxpayer dime. I'd roll it into renovations here. Think of it as a wedding gift."
"No, Tony. It's too much. I'm not going to accept a whole new lab just because of who I'm sleeping with. Everything I've gotten in my career I've earned by my own merit. I'm not into handouts."
"It's not just for you. Think of Steve. Take it from me, time spent commuting adds up quick. Do you know how guilty he's gonna feel for taking time out of the Avengers for you, and time away from you for Avengers work?"
He had found the right buttons to push. I'd trade off a lot to maintain my own independence, but Steve's happiness was another matter.
"All right," I conceded. "Let me write a grant proposal, and your foundation can decide if there's enough merit there to fund it. Just so long as you keep in mind that I don't work for you."
"Oh, most of my staff feel the same way; just ask Maria, or Selvig."
"Or Pepper?" I asked, slyly.
"Err," he blanched, "Maybe not Pepper. Please."
I gave him a smug look, but left it at that. I'd let him get the last word on the subject, but overall I was very pleased with the arrangement. He was right, we were running out of room for the exo-toxicology lab at the main Damage Control facility, vying for space as we were with the other departments. And it did make sense to have a branch close to the Avengers headquarters. After all, they sent so much work our way.
Conversations seemed to be winding down, and Steve glanced at the clock before addressing the whole group. "We'd like to keep it quiet until after the wedding. It shouldn't be long. Just as soon as my current medical situation is settled, we plan to elope. We can make a press announcement when we get back."
"Don't worry about it, Cap," Clint said, "We've got plenty of practice holding on to secrets."
With that, it was time to go our separate ways. Anna and Helen started drifting off in the direction of the labs, while the rest of the crew headed towards the outside doors. Steve and I hung back to make our goodbyes.
"You know you're welcome to look in on our training. It can get pretty repetitive, but you might be interested in what we get up to day-to-day."
"Thank you. I think I'm going to be all tied up in the lab for the next little while, but maybe sometime soon."
He bent down to kiss me, and as our lips met, a whooping cheer went up from the group that hadn't quite dispersed after all. Steve and I drew back from the kiss, somewhat shyly, but he gave my hand a squeeze, and I answered his smile with one of my own, before we both moved on to our days.