Unacceptability and Pitbulls
Steve took off his hat when he walked into shield NYC HQ. He'd called Fury earlier in the day and demanded a meeting with the Director of Shield as soon as possible. They had told him noon.
After an awkward morning, he'd slipped out of bed before Ella's alarm went off. It took a bit of maneuvering and untangling to get his arm out from under the pillow she was using, and to move her arm off his shoulder without waking her. She mumbled something in her sleep and turned over. Once he was up, he made his way to the kitchen, throwing together an omelet for her and starting the coffee maker in the living room before making the call. She'd crawled out of bed approximately ten minutes after her alarm and nearly jumped onto the counter when she realized she wasn't alone in her apartment.
"Wh-I thought that was all a dream," She huffed out, running a hand through her hair, which was extremely frizzy and seemed to unnaturally poke out in odd places. Her face had turned pink when he'd joked that they had slept in the same bed.
She was very quiet in the morning as she slowly woke herself up, which he got a crack out of watching. She'd walked into the living room and stood there for three or four minutes before returning to the kitchen for no reason whatsoever. She'd also pressed a button on the coffee machine only to realize it was already full.
After a second alarm went off on her phone and she seemed to snap into it, turning it off and nodding toward the bathroom. "Do you need to shower?" she asked.
"I'll do all that when I get back to the tower. Did you want a ride to school?" Steve adjusted his t-shirt and hoped that his breath wasn't too bad that morning.
Ella smiled. "I'll be ready to go in half an hour, is that okay? I know I'm messing up your run schedule,"
Steve just shrugged. He'd come to realize that she was worth it. After all, it wasn't like he would suddenly lose his endurance because he skipped one morning. After throwing on his sweatshirt for the second day in a row and making sure he had his wallet and keys, he sat at a chair with a notepad he'd grabbed from the fridge and a pen he'd found in a drawer, his strokes running across the pad as he watched a little bit of the local news while he waited.
She emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in a light blue t-shirt and long polka-dot skirt pulled up to her waist, She was combing her hair as she made her way into the bedroom and laughing when Steve winked at her, sipping his coffee. From her bedroom, he could hear her ponder "What'd they say about the weather?"
"Rain." His one-word answer prompted a bit of a groan.
"I hate fall. The rain doesn't even have a good purpose like it does in spring. It just gets cold and knocks all the pretty leaves down." Steve smirked at her response and watched as she also pulled out a pair of short heeled boots to put in the hallway, using her hand to steady herself when she almost toppled over. She returned to her room to pull out a light tan double button long coat. Steve put the notepad back on the fridge and slipped his shoes on in the entryway, also grabbing his coat off the small table where it had been sitting. When she came out again she glanced and adjusted her hair in her mirror in the entryway she spun and smiled at him.
"Ready!" Steve finished shrugging on his jacket and opened the door for her, walking out and waiting for her to go through all for steps of making sure it was shut. He glanced down at the near-empty street. It was so early that the sun had yet to make a full appearance over the horizon, but daylight savings was going to be coming up soon. They casually and quietly made their way down the steps to the car. Eleanor checked both sides and mentioned that she was surprised no one had tried to break into it. While it wasn't the flashiest car that Stark owned, it was still top of the line and definitely no older than two or three years. Eleanor directed Steve through the suburban morning traffic to the school where she got out and leaned against the passenger side window for a moment.
"Thank you for staying with me last night." She gestured.
Steve bobbed his head and gave her a small smile back. "No problem. It's my fault in the first place. I've scheduled an appointment today to talk with them."
Eleanor put her hand to her forehead in salute as she pushed away from the car. "My knight in shining spandex". Once she'd stepped onto the curb and a few feet away she leaned down again so she could see him through the window. "Text you later?" She asked.
"I'll be sitting by my phone all day," Steve responded. She threw her tongue out at him as he started up the engine again and began to roll up the window headed into traffic for his way back to the tower, crossing his fingers that he made it in before anyone else woke up for the morning. He wasn't sure what he'd tell them to explain that he hadn't been back all night.
He'd been successful at sneaking back into the tower, and he went on a late run despite the busy streets. When he'd finished, he checked his watch ate an apple, texted Eleanor and then headed to the Headquarters, a small concrete building with tinted windows just on the edge of the skyscrapers in town. The halls were a modern white with the occasional picture or plack of remembrance. While Steve wore his civilian clothes, ever agent he passed seemed to follow him with their eyes. The spying and curiosity never ended he supposed.
Once he'd made it to the main offices on the fourth floor, A young brunette woman gave him a smile and stood, motioning toward the door on her other side. There was glass that showed the Director of SHIELD sitting behind his desk reading something on his computer.
The moment he opened the door he was greeted with: "Captain, please, sit down." from Fury, who didn't even glance up from the screen. He made a few clicks with his mouse. His lack of attention and eye contact just frustrated Steve more. He stood behind the chair in protest.
"You need to keep your agents away from my friends." Steve alluded to the previous day.
Fury looked up at him, blinking, but also showing no emotion on his face. "You can't expect that from us."
"Yes. Yes, I can." Steve let the air out of his nose. "Eleanor deserves to maintain her privacy. You will not bug her apartment and you will not break into her apartment-"
The Director of SHIELD leaned back in his seat not saying anything but interrupting Steve nonetheless, Fury's single eye narrowed as he glanced back to his computer. "You don't understand what it is we do, do you?"
"What?" Steve tried not to snap. He knew military protocol but SHIELD was on a different level. They had a whole different set of rules they lived by and Steve still hadn't seen their documents. This would be his potential boss in the coming months. The world had changed he agreed, but this was still not acceptable.
"We monitor all potential threats." Fury stated
"She is not a potential threat." Steve was short with him, trying to get his point across as clear as he could, there wouldn't be room for loopholes, he'd make sure of it. "she is a friend."
Trying not to roll his eyes, Steve watched as Fury moved to try and calm the situation down, speaking slower and more clearly. "Eleanor Moore is a liability. You're soft on her and she can use that to her advantage. She can get hurt and that would distract you from the work that you need to do." he was pushing Steve in the wrong direction. Steve would admit that he wasn't lying about the possibilities, the could haves and what ifs but that didn't make their actions tolerable it wasn't their responsibility.
"That is for me and her to worry about. Not for SHIELD. And if SHIELD had an issue or concerns they should have approached ME first. Scare tactics and threats are absolutely unacceptable."
"I disagree." Fury stood matching eyes with Steve and putting his hand on his desk, "you need to understand that involving civilians in our work is almost always a bad idea. SHIELD agents maintain either undercover lives outside of their work, or they do not date."
"I am not a SHIELD agent."
"That is true. Bu-"
"There are no ifs-ands-or buts here, Fury." Steve leaned forward with his hands on the chair in front of him. mimicking fury's own stance. SHIELD will leave Eleanor alone. They will not approach her; They will not monitor her without my explicit permission. Otherwise, you and I will have problems."
"Alright. Fine. I will make sure that all monitoring desists."
"Good." With that, Steve moved to walk out the door only pausing when Fury spoke again.
"Her Neighbors- those gang members? Each and every one of them has a record and yet she interacts with them almost as if they're friends. Have you thought about that recently Rogers?"
Steve narrowed his eyes but didn't turn around. He offered the secretary a goodbye but didn't relax until he was standing next to the borrowed vehicle. Taking a deep breath he opened the door sat down and pulled his cellphone out of his back pocket, glancing down at Eleanor's last message that read: Thank you! You can do it! Followed by a face with glasses and a heart emoji. Steve stared at it for a moment before sending a message back.
Steve: I talked to SHIELD, they shouldn't be bothering you again. How's class?
Eleanor: On Lesson Planning hour now, so far so good. Thanks for sticking up for little ol' me.
Steve couldn't help but chuckle as he started the car, feeling a little lighter on his trip back home.
Eleanor's day had been uneventful—if you could call it that. She did, after all, wake up to Captain America cooking omelets in her kitchen. Just the thought of it made her face light up a little pinker than normal. The brunette tried not to think about it on her way back to her home that afternoon. As she walked closer to the building, the gang was a little bigger than normal. Vic didn't catcall when she went to pass them, instead, he took a step in front of her to block her path.
She stopped, and her daze focusing on him as her daydream floated away. No one else in the group moved, and she pulled out her headphones and squared up. After the day she had yesterday, they definitely weren't going to scare her. They needed a lot more than baggy pants and sexual innuendos. She didn't even need to ask any questions but rather stared at the much larger man until he said something.
"Who were the people at your apartment?" He asked, "You in trouble?"
Feeling a bit surprised, but not willing to give up much information to his interrogation she shrugged and cleared her throat. "What's it to you?"
Vic glanced at his buddies who all scoffed. They didn't say much else for a moment. "It's our neighborhood. We can't have our people getting into trouble. Gotta keep our eyes peeled." Vic looked her up and down as if assessing her ability to challenge him. Eleanor narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head.
"They weren't here for you so what's the problem?" She tried to put together the pieces of what they were trying to say. She didn't speak slang or gang. Despite having been around it for years now, it was just something she avoided at all costs. It wasn't to say she hadn't interacted with them before so much as it was never under the pretenses of them cornering her.
One of the dudes smoking what was definitely not a cigarette spoke up, not looking at her but rather up toward one of the street lights that only sometimes worked. "We asked and they didn't tell us nothing." Her eyes flashed to him. She adjusted her stance to make sure they were all within her sights.
Another man, this time sitting at the curb looked up at her. He had a light scar on his forehead and a grim look. "My little cousin likes your cupcakes" He mentioned offhandedly. Eleanor fixed her eyes on him. "He's the kid in 219. Goes to Jameson. Said you taught their class for a week."
Frowning, Eleanor knew which kid in the building the man was talking about, a fourth grader who sometimes knocked on her door and asked for some baking ingredient or another. He had a single mother who she often had pleasant conversations with and had helped bring the groceries up once or twice to her apartment. She'd even kid-sat for a few hours once when the boy forgot his key at home and was waiting for his mom. Eleanor knew that Vic had family in the building, but she hadn't really processed that there were others. How widespread was the gang anyway? She'd never kept track of numbers. Beyond that, what were they suggesting? She was friendly with just about everyone in her apartment building and she would never purposefully put anyone in danger.
The look of confusion crossing her face must have tipped the group off. Another sitting down nodded toward the building. "You got a problem. We got a problem. Need a cheap lawyer, we got them on speed dial. Your retriever's big but we got some real pitbulls. They ain't the ones that gave you that shiner the other week?"
Eleanor suddenly felt a little wave of understanding and affection for the gang members. They'd noticed her bruise too? Maybe she wasn't giving them enough credit. And were they… looking out for her? She couldn't help but give them a small smile, making eye contact with all of them. "It's all good. They shouldn't be coming around again." She gave them a nod, and paused for a second, "If you see them though, could you let me know?" She distinctly thought of how the group had interacted with her the previous day, raising her awareness of the situation. While she was sure she might have noticed something weird with her apartment they didn't
The group all sort of nodded and pushed each other around a little. Vic shifted out of her path. "We saw them around one thirty, they slipped in and then back out." Eleanor nodded her head, hoping that meant they had taken anything that they were monitoring her with away. "We got your back lil' mama" he smirked. The guys sitting down gave little catcalls. Eleanor suddenly realized that they weren't with malintent. Suddenly feeling quite a bit safer she made her way up to her apartment, opening the door and unchaining the lock. Looking back down she could see the group goofing off in the street again. They weren't her favorite people no, but it was always nice to know that you had someone looking out for you.
Once she'd gotten into her apartment she glanced around. Nothing had moved. It was an odd feeling that they'd gotten in and out without any help and that previously they may have left something or another. Eleanor set her keys down on the table and slipped off her shoes. She pulled out her cellphone and sent a message to Steve.
Eleanor: Vic and company said they stopped by around one thirty and left. I think they're looking out for me?
There was a series of dots while she waited for Steve to answer, throwing on her kettle to make some tea. Today would be a good day for some Yoga to find some extra peace. The message popped back up.
Steve: Someone at HQ mentioned them too. Glad they're not totally horrible people.
Eleanor: Everyone has a little good and a little bad, even you Captain America.
She smiled down at the phone when he responded and took note of his sarcasm. He was getting better at using it in a texting format. She could hear the tone resonate.
Steve: Even me? You'll be needing scientific evidence for that claim.
She couldn't help but shake her head when she took the tea out of the cupboard. Looking at her refrigerator to take the milk out she saw on the old notepad magnet a sketch of her camera that she most definitely did not do. She looked at the detail and then down to her camera sitting on the counter. Steve must have had a little more extra time on his hands this morning than she'd expected. Maybe she should try to get him to go to one of those painting classes they did. She considered his art as she prepared her tea, tearing off the picture and pinning it up with another magnet.
A/N: Thanks for Reading! Don't forget to Review with your thoughts and comments, and Favorite/Follow for updates! The more I get the faster I write and the faster I update! It always invigorates me when it has been a while since I posted.
Lots of love from the Middle-of-Nowhere-Asia!