Manhattan, NYC | 0920 Hours
1 Week Later
Alba was on her second cup of decaf coffee of the day, pacing in her office while her client babbled on the phone.
"No, Johanna, you're safe. Listen to me, I promised you he was going to go behind bars. I'm going to keep that promise. But you're going to have to trust me. Now I'm going to ask you again; has he tried to contact you since the restraining order went into effect?"
She sighed irritatedly, trying not to let the caffeine withdrawal get in the way of her job. Johanna was only nineteen. Barely a woman. If she couldn't send the scum that assaulted her into prison…she would never be able to sleep at night.
The young woman on the phone took a shaky breath in response to her question. "N-no. But he's not going to leave me alone…he'll kill me before going to prison again." Alba froze.
"Johanna. You need to be honest with me. Did he tell you that?" There was only the silence of shaky breathing on the other side. Johanna was scared beyond her wits. Alba had worked with clients like this before, she could still get her on board.
"Johanna, honey? You can tell me." She said in her most soothing voice. "I'm here for you, Jo. I've been on your side since the night I found you in that alley, but you have to tell me the truth. Did he threaten to kill you?"
"Yes." Johanna's cracked voice was small, but Alba got all she needed before the girl burst into tears on the other side of the line. It was all she could do to shake her head and silently wish a slow, painful death on the bastard who did this. She had to put him in prison. He was going to get what he deserved, or her name wasn't Alba Herrera.
"Listen, Jo. Gonzalez is being held accountable for at least a dozen counts of murder, but we need your testimony to make that happen. You're the only woman that managed to survive him." Alba took a deep breath. "I have a contact at the U.S. Marshals office. I'm sure once bring your case to his attention they will consider you for witness protection." The girl on the phone sniffled for a few seconds before scratching out a reply.
"You mean that I'll get taken somewhere else? What about my mom and my sister?" That was tricky. Marshals never brought the families. Witnesses only. Alba considered coming straight out with the truth, but Johanna was already being skittish. She had to stall.
"I'll see what I can do. But in the meantime, you just stay calm and make sure you're ready for the trial. Less than two weeks, now." Alba remarked, glancing at the calendar sitting on her desk. She sat before her computer and soothed Johanna for a couple more minutes before promising to call her tomorrow after a visit to the U.S. Marshals office.
After being on the line for nearly an hour handling Johanna's meltdown, Alba leaned back in her seat and glared at the phone. As if taunting her, it started ringing again the second she put it down.
"Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me," She snatched the phone off its cradle and put on her most professional voice.
"This is Alba Herrera, how may I help you?"
"About time you picked up the phone." Alba growled under her breath as she recognized Marcus' smarmy voice.
"I was busy with a client, Marcus. Might I remind you that I have a lovely assistant that would be happy to take any messages?" Marcus snorted.
"Alba, if I wanted to talk to Agnes I would have called her desk, right?" He talked to her the way he would explain things to a very dumb child, and Alba felt the sudden need to reach through the phone and strangle him.
"What do you want, Marcus?" She bit out, rubbing at her temples and cursing the lack of caffeine in her system. Caffeine withdrawal was no joke.
"I'm calling because I need the depositions that you collected from the S.H.I.E.L.D. overtake. The DOJ wants them verified and signed. They're putting a lid on the case." She cursed the day they agreed to work on the case together. She remembered being excited about possibly meeting the Avengers, but 100% of the people she took statements from were office employees who worked in cubicles all day. Now she was forced to work with her idiot ex.
"If you need the depositions, I'll send them with a courier. He'll be there in an hour—"
"A courier? Come on, Alba. We were working on this together, the best thing would be for you to deliver that package and wrap up this case with me…personally." Was he…was he trying to sound suggestive? Alba clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from gagging and hung up the phone, grumbling as she shoved papers and files into her briefcase.
"…Who the hell does he think he is. Shameless asshole. There's a special circle in hell for petty people like him."
Alba arrived at his firm twenty five minutes later, huffing from a sweaty cab ride and trying to smooth her rambunctious curls into a semblance of order. She usually made time to go get a blowout at her favorite salon, but the pregnancy had been turning her life upside down. In the evenings, after long days at work, she could barely keep her eyes open. Yesterday Alba barely finished her dinner before passing out on the couch for a three hour nap. Then she woke up, showered, and continued to sleep the entire night.
No matter how much sleep she got, she was always tired. All her hours at home were spent sleeping, and she felt like she was barely keeping it together. Between her lack of time and the unexpected demands of her job, she was trying hard not to let everything overwhelm her.
…And the baby isn't even here yet.
Alba signed in at the security desk and marched into the elevators, feeling weirdly uncomfortable by how familiar it felt. She was whisked away to the thirty-first floor, where all the conference rooms were, and walked down the long hallway until she caught a whisper of someone's voice.
"Are we nearly done here?"
That voice. It was so familiar, husky and warm like honey. So familiar…
"Just about. We're just waiting on Miss Herrera to grace us with her presence. Then you two can verify the statements and sign." …And there's Marcus. Of course Marcus would say that. If he wanted the papers on time so damn much, he should have gotten his ass down to her firm and picked them up in time. Suddenly Alba felt a roaring in her head. She prided herself on being a damn good lawyer, and she wasn't going to let anyone blame their incompetence on her. Less of all Marcus.
She swung the door open and strutted into the room, walking down the long conference table until finally reaching her target. "Hello gentlemen," She didn't spare a glance at the two men sitting across from her ex, focusing all her anger on his smug face. "Next time you want depositions, give me more than a twenty-five minute warning, will you? In case you forgot, I am also a lawyer with a full case load and unlike you, I don't keep my clients waiting." Marcus' pompous face fell, and his eyes flitted nervously to the two men sitting across from him.
Finally satisfied with her set-down, she sat next to him and began organizing all of the paperwork she had in her briefcase. She was almost done with the neat stacks when she noted the deafening silence in the room. Alba froze and looked up, her jaw swinging open in a small 'o'.
It was Steve. She blinked hard and stared again, noticing a similar expression on his face. She suddenly realized she wasn't imagining things. After nearly a week of a fruitless search for her mysterious baby daddy, he had quite suddenly landed on her lap. She glanced down at the paperwork before her once more, this time with intent to get his name. Why hadn't she read the documents on the taxi ride there?
Cause she'd been too busy dozing off.
She kept skimming through the papers until she found what she was looking forward.
His name was Steven Grant Rogers. Otherwise known as Captain America. Jesus Christ.
So that's why he looked so familiar. God, how stupid am I? How did I not realize who he really was?!
In Alba's defense, it should be noted that all the pictures of Captain America she had ever seen were of him masked. With a uniform and a shield. She had never Cap like this; dressed casually with a baseball hat over his brow and a cozy brown leather jacket. She felt overwhelmed, and suddenly very, very tired. She couldn't do this. Not right now. So she shoved the papers at Marcus and gave him her most menacing look.
"Here are the depositions. You finish up, I have a very important meeting I'm late for." It was the truth. The meeting at the U.S. Marshall's office was in less than half an hour, and she couldn't afford to be late. Johanna needed her help.
Alba tore down the hall and was practically running to the elevator when a hand closed around her wrist. She recognized the burning warmth, the way this hand made hers feel tiny. It didn't take a genius to realize Steve had caught up to her.
"I really am late." She whispered, not wanting to draw Marcus' attention out into the hallway. Instead of responding, Steve gently tugged on her hand and led her into one of the smaller conference rooms, closing the door behind them. She took advantage of the large leather chairs the room had been furnished with and plopped right down, taking deep breaths to contain the sudden nausea. Something told her this wasn't morning sickness.
Alba glared down at the oak table before her, and when Steve realized she wasn't going to say anything, he sat down beside her and spoke up.
"I want to apologize."
"If you're going to say sorry for what happened that night, don't. Nothing you can say will change anything." Steve looked at her for a long moment before breaking into a grin.
"Actually I wasn't planning on apologizing for that. I'm apologizing for the disappearing act I pulled the next morning. Something happened at the tower, and they needed me right away." Belatedly, she realized he was talking about the Stark Tower, the building jutting into the heart of Manhattan.
"Why didn't you just knock on the door and tell me? I was in the bathroom the whole time." He would have probably scared the shit out of her, but still. Steve's head snapped towards her, eyes narrowed.
"I left you a message, Alba."
"What kind of message? Psychic? Telepathic? I never got anything, Steve." He sighed and joined her at the table. Alba tried not to stare at the way his jacket clung to his shoulders and arms.
"I wrote my number on the paper that was sitting on the kitchen counter," He explained. "I wanted to take you out to dinner, but you never called so I thought you weren't interested." Alba let out a long sigh, suddenly felt terrible for assuming the worst of him. He wasn't like Marcus. He was a good guy.
"The papers on the counter were junk mail…I threw them out. I am so sorry." Steve gave her a small smile, and she knew all was forgiven. Alba wondered how he would react when he found out he was going to be a dad. She had to get a chance to speak with him in private.
"I have to talk to you. Can you come to my apartment, tonight? I'll make dinner."
He hesitated. "I would love to, but I agreed to be somewhere. Could we do it in the next few days?" Alba tried not to look desperate, but the faster she got this news off her chest the easier she would sleep at night.
"Steve, this is really important." His features instantly hardened as he leaned forward. His face was all Steve, but the way his muscles tensed for fighting were all Cap.
"Is something wrong? Are you in danger?"
His unwavering concern set butterflies soaring in her stomach. You're not fifteen anymore, Alba. Get. It. Together. "No. But it is important. Please." He stared into her eyes, and Alba suddenly felt like she was sitting at the bar again, about to fall off a precipice. Seeing the way Steve glanced at her lips, it was obvious he felt the same way. The spell was broken when the elevator dinged down the hall, and Steve leaned back into his seat, clearing his throat.
"Let me see what I can do," He said. "Give me a minute, will you?" He took out his phone and excused himself, walking to the end of the conference room and gazing out of the window. Whoever was on the other end picked up and he spoke quietly, but his warm voice still carried across the silent room.
"Hey. Something came up. I can't do today." Oh god, had she interrupted on his date plan or something? She wanted to beat herself up. But she was doing the right thing. For both Steve and the baby. He was a good man, that much Alba could see. And he had every right to know.
"…I know that, Nat. No, it's not that. I can't say. It's…personal." He said, eyes flitting back to me at the table. "Look, I get it. Just rope Tony in, tell him you can't do it without him and all that, he'll come around." Oh my god. Tony. Tony Stark? Alba's mouth dropped when she realized he was dropping an Avenger mission for her, and she felt like she wasn't worthy of breathing his air. Steve finally finished up his call and smiled.
"I'll be there. What time did you want to meet?"
She let out a relieved breath. "Is seven okay? You remember where my place is, right?" Just in case he forgot, she took out a business card and wrote down her home address and number on it. Her phone beeped with an incoming message from the rankled U.S. Marshall she was supposed to be meeting, and she jumped to her feet and grabbed her things. Alba gave Steve a hasty goodbye and promised to see him later before running to catch the elevator.
You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
Hours later, Alba repeated the words in her head like a mantra, pacing. From her kitchen, to the living room, and then back into the bathroom, to make sure she looked fine. She wasn't sure if this was a date, but she picked a pretty summer dress that was covered in flowers and comfortable pointy heels. She also rushed to the salon as soon as she ended her appointment at the U.S. Marshals office and had gotten it straightened into submission. Her hair was now sleek and voluminous, cascading in thick raven waves around her shoulders.
Dinner was done and steaming on the table. Alba ended up choosing to make pasta because it was easy and quick, but had to switch from spaghetti to chicken alfredo because the sudden scent of tomato sauce made her gag. It was the third time it had happened so far, and she was still as confused as the first time it happened. Stupid pregnancy hormones.
After laying the tossed salad and bread beside the pasta, she scurried back into the bathroom to check her makeup. She was going for a natural look, but was afraid she looked too made up. She didn't want Steve to get the wrong idea. This was just an important talk, that's all.
Alba was brushing her hair for the third time when a quick knock made her stop short. With a cleansing breath, she hurried over the to door and opened it slowly. Steve greeted her with a nod, and then continued to take her in from head to toe, his eyes lingering on her legs.
Not a date. Not a date. Not a date.
But clearly Steve didn't know that, because he grinned and presented her with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers Alba had ever seen. Her mouth dropped as she stared at the beautiful assortment of pink, coral, and white peonies.
"These are beautiful, Steve. Thank you." She resisted the urge to lean up on her toes and give him a kiss. Not a date.
"Please, come in." She took his leather jacket and hung it up, anxious to keep busy. The last thing she wanted to do was start babbling like a lunatic. She rushed over to the kitchen and put the bouquet in some water. "I hope your hungry. Do you like pasta?" When Steve wasn't looking, she breathed in the flowers, smiling to herself. It'd been years since she had received any.
"Yeah, I love it. It smells great." Alba joined him at the table and started dishing out their food, taking care to avoid the subject of alcohol. Nothing like a woman pointedly avoiding wine to draw suspicion. She took a careful bite of pasta and watched in amusement as Steve wolfed down the food on his plate.
"This is delicious." He groaned, stuffing another forkful of chicken in his mouth. He was eating like he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks, and Alba couldn't resist teasing him.
"Can no one cook pasta in Stark Tower?" Steve answered easily.
"I'll be honest, I can't cook. The only decent cooks are Sam and Nat, but there's a lot of mouths to feed, and most of the times they can't be bothered so to make so many portions." She was starting to see what he meant. Even though the food on her plate had barely been touched, Steve was finishing his first serving and reaching over the table for seconds. Clearly some superhero super-metabolism was at play here.
"Pasta is easy. If you want, I can show you how to make it sometime." Steve gave her a playful look, his mouth pulling up in a crooked smirk, and Alba's heart thudded in her chest. Not a date.
"I'd love to. It's time I learn my way around a kitchen, so really you would be doing me a favor." Alba resisted the urge to declare it a date. Why was she making plans with him? For all she knew, Steve would run out the door the moment he found out she was pregnant. She briefly wondered what would happen if she just blurted it out. Right now. She practiced the words in her head, but every time she tried opening her mouth, her jaw locked up.
"Alba?" Her head snapped up to find Steve looking at her curiously. "Is everything okay?" Her brained screamed. Tell him now!
She took a deep breath. "Actually, no. You must be wondering why I insisted you stop by tonight. Believe or not, it wasn't just so you can try my chicken Alfredo." She joked, trying to hide the breathlessness in her voice.
"I won't lie. I've been wondering about that a lot." He replied slowly, the playful glint fading from his eyes. In this moment, Alba wished she was anywhere but here. She wished she was still back in the bar, feeling the warmth of Steve's gaze on her shoulders. She realized she liked him. A lot. And she was scared of loosing him, but lying would get her nowhere. Honesty was the only option.
"I invited you over because there's something really important I need to tell you." So far so good, she coached herself. He straightened in his chair and leaned forward, the picture of patience.
"Steve…I had a doctor's appointment last week. They found something kind of…unusual. I'm pregnant."
Silence.
Alba stared at Steve, who hadn't moved an inch, and gulped nervously. "Steve, did you hear me? I said I'm pregnant."
"I heard you." He said shakily, and suddenly she noticed that his face was incredibly pale. Alba nervously awaited a reaction, and watched as he clenched his jaw. She couldn't stand the deafening silence, so she filled it isntead.
"Lorrie—the doctor, estimated me to be about seven weeks along. You're the only person that I've slept with since Marcus and I broke up. You have to believe me, Steve."
He furrowed his brows. "We used protection, Alba."
"I know. But apparently they're not effective 100% of the time." He stared at the table in silence, hands clasped before him. Alba suddenly felt like she was at the principal's office. It seemed like they were at an impasse. She wanted to prod Steve for a response, but it wouldn't be fair to him. God knows she'd acted the same way when she first found out.
Alba settled for clearing the table to give Steve some privacy to react. The last thing she wanted was him to feel like he a was bug under a microscope. Again. The dishwasher was halfway loaded when his phone started ringing.
He sighed and quickly muted it. It began ringing again almost instantly, and this time he growled as he rejected the call once more. By the third time, he was in a foul mood.
"What?" He barked. Alba shuddered when a distracted moment ended in a clatter of dishes before her. She ignored the man behind her and concentrated at the task in hand.
"Where's Tony?" He huffed when the warbled voice replied, but it was all Alba could do to keep from fangirling. Tony Stark! "Fine. I'll be in the airfield in twenty." Oh. Her stomach dropped with the realization he was leaving.
She turned around clumsily when his chair scraped back and he came to stand before her slowly. His bright eyes, which were normally mirthful, meet hers blankly.
"I have to go. There's an emergency." His voice was flat and lifeless even to her own ears, but she didn't point that out. The only thing she could do was nod and watch him march out the door, praying that he found it within himself to come back. One day.
It's up! It's up! Tell me what you guys think about Steve's reaction!