Hey everyone Here's the next one. I hope you all like it and please don't hate me for the ending. Let me know what you think. Enjoy :)
April 2013-
My fellowship and job as a trauma attending has been going pretty good. Doctor Schmidt, the head of Cardiology had actually requested me for his service and he was very impressed with the progress I had made in two months. Things were great.
Sam and Jess had taken Wren and I up on our offer to take Connor for a weekend so they could celebrate the anniversary of the day they met.
We were set to pick him up after our shift ended. Wren and I were sitting in the cafeteria talking about this upcoming weekend.
"So Connor's room is set up. I was thinking of getting him some toys from Jess so we can keep him busy." I said.
"Uhuh." Wren said nodding along but he had his eye on something.
"We also need to make a run for groceries, We need arsenic." I said trying to see if he noticed.
"I'll stop by later." Wren said. I looked over to see what he was looking at but turns out it was actually a who. I recognized her she was a neuro attending. I worked a case with her a few weeks back.
"Her name's Kate. She's from Seattle." I said.
"What?" Wren said startled.
"The brunette at my six who you can't take your eyes off of." I said.
"What I wasn't…" Wren said but shut up after I gave him a look.
"You should talk to her she's nice." I said.
"You know her?" Wren asked looking really interested all of a sudden.
"Yeah, she was my neuro consult for that pneumothorax and punctured liver a few weeks back." I answered.
"And you talked?" He said.
"Yeah, I didn't have a resident that day and it was a pretty long surgery." I answered.
"Oh…" Wren said.
"Go talk to her." I said.
"Nora I can't just going to go talk to her." Wren said.
"Why not?" I said.
"What if she has a boyfriend?" He asked.
"She doesn't because she not so subtly asked about you during the surgery. She thought we were a thing and I started laughing." I said.
"She asked about me?"
"Yeah she's into you dude." I said.
"Oh, What do I do?" Wren asked.
"I don't know what do you want?"
"Want of what?"
"Do you want a one night stand, something casual or a serious relationship?" I asked.
"What I don't know? She's a looker." Wren said.
"So you're attracted to her and judging by the way you couldn't keep your eyes off of her you have a crush." I said.
"What no! I'm a grown man I don't get crushes." Wren said.
"Denial is not just a river in Egypt." I said in a sing song voice.
"You have to stop watching romantic comedies." Wren deadpanned.
"It was just one and When Harry Met Sally is a classic" I retorted. "You should ask her out for coffee. She seems really nice." Then my pager started beeping.
"Gotta go, emergency triple bypass." I said "Text you when I'm out."
Later that night-
I got out of surgery and went to ready the first page of the patient's file so I could get his name before filling out his post op chart. When I was done I got out of my scrubs put my stars and firework cap back in my locker before going to find Wren. He was at the nurses' station but he wasn't alone. He was talking to Kate.
I decided to check my phone and see if I had any messages. I had one from Jess telling me that Connor was ready to go. I told her we would be there in a bit just waiting on Wren. Then I got a voice message from Dad.
"Hey kid just calling to tell you I'm on my way to Dallas. See you in a few hours."
Holy Shit dad's coming!
Oh Fuck Dad's coming the same day I have Connor. Okay I could handle this.
I looked over and saw Kate walk away with a small smile on her face. I walked over and saw Wren standing there looking happier than the last time I saw him.
"You look happy." I said.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He answered as we walked out. "We have a couple of days off. We get to spend time with the little guy.."
"My Dad's coming over…" I added.
"Tony's coming over?" Wren said.
"Don't be so surprised, we did agree to bimonthly visits." I said.
"You also agreed to one video call a month, one phone call every two weeks and a text message a day." Wren said remembering our agreement.
"Well we've been busy." I said.
Wren sighed. "If you say so. Let's go pick up the little guy." Wren said. We walked into a closet before teleporting to Jess and Sam's house.
"Ahie!" We heard Connor yell happily before he ran over to me. I picked him up and spun him a little before kissing his cheek.
"Hi sweetheart." I said.
"Unca!" He said when he saw Wren he practically jumped out of my arms.
"Hi bugger." Wren said taking him.
"Hey you two I packed the three of you dinner because I know you probably haven't thawed anything out of the freezer." Jess said packing our dinner.
"Actually we did but the pantry and fridge are a bit empty so we have to go grocery shopping later." I said.
"Don't you mean I have to go?" Wren said.
"I offered to go with you." I said.
"Yes and you kept throwing in oreos and Cheetos." Wren retorted.
"They're vegan." I said.
"They're vegan because there's nothing real in them." Wren said.
"I like my comfort foods." I said.
"You get nonfat almond milk ice cream" Wren said. That made Jess and I give him a look of disgust.
"So where's Sam?" I asked.
"I made him go unpack his textbooks." Jess answered.
"He packed his textbooks?" I said confused.
"I did." Sam said as he walked in.
"Dude the point of a weekend getaway is to relax and have fun. Not work yourself into an early grave." I said.
"Thank you." Jess said.
"Fine I promise not to study while we're away." Sam said.
"We'll let you get to it." Wren said.
"Okay bye sweetie." Jess said kissing Connor's cheek.
"If you need us call us." Sam said.
"Guys relax we can handle one weekend with this angel." I said.
"You say this now, just wait til he wakes up in the middle of the night." Sam said.
"or you have to change a diaper." Jess said.
"We're surgeons we can handle this little guy." Wren said.
"Just call us if you have any questions." Jess said again.
"We will but can you two at least try to relax. Get a couple's massage or something." I said. "you're both tense."
"She's an art dealer and I'm a law student. We're supposed to be stressed. It's our jobs." Sam said.
"Not this weekend it's not. It's your anniversary focus on that." Wren said.
"We're leaving. Have fun and relax. You're leaving your son with medical professionals. He'll be fine." I said.
One Hour Later-
"Maybe we were in over our head with this?" I said.
"How can one toddler poop so much?" Wren said.
"What are Jess and Sam feeding him?" I said gagging a bit.
"We can't just wipe it away, we need to give him a bath." Wren said.
"Agreed. Good thing his room has its own bathroom" I said.
"Yes very good thing. Come on bugger time for a bath." Wren said.
Connor really liked bath time. SO much he actually started crying when it was time to get out. We used some of the sleep lotion Jess had mentioned in her list and he knocked right out. Wren set him down in the crib and he was sound asleep. We turned on the baby monitor and went back to the living room.
"How's Kate?" I asked.
"Kate's good, she's working tomorrow but we're meeting for coffee." Wren said with a grin.
"That's great."
"You going to be okay being on your own with Connor?"
"Not the first time I've watched him. I can handle it." I said.
"Can you handle Connor and your dad at the same time?" Wren said.
"My dad's a grown man." I said.
"That on occasion acts like a child." Wren retorted.
"He does not." I said.
"Kid, I'm here, I have pizza and the director's cut to Terminator. Let's get this weekend started." Dad said as he walked in.
"You were saying." Wren said.
"In the living room." I called out.
"Wren, good to see you." Dad said awkwardly.
"Tony, you look well." Wren said.
"I do, I brought dinner." Dad said putting a box of pizza on the coffee table.
"Dad not that I'm not happy to see you but why are you in Dallas?" I asked.
"Since when do I need an excuse to visit." Dad asked.
"You don't it's just that the timing is a bit strange." I said.
"I hacked into Friday so I'd know when you have a weekend off. I saw you both had this weekend free so I came over." Dad said.
"Oh good thinking." I said.
"I have the entire weekend planned out. I got us reservations at our usual breakfast place and…" Dad started.
Wren cleared his throat, his not so subtle way telling me to burst his bubble.
"Yeah, I think we're going to have to cancel those reservations." I said.
"Why?" Dad asked and just like that Connor started crying. "What was that?"
"I got him." Wren said getting up.
"Nora?" Dad asked and just like that Wren came back with Connor.
"He's asking for you." Wren said handing Connor over.
"Hey sweetheart. Had a bad dream." I asked as he hugged me and nodded.
"Nora I'm too young to be a grandpa." Dad said.
"Relax, This is Connor. My godson." I said.
"Oh, Oh good." Dad said relieved.
"He's staying with us for the weekend while Sam and Jess go away to celebrate their anniversary." Wren said.
"Is he wearing Iron Man Pjs?" Dad said.
"He is… He also has Captain America ones." Wren said making Dad groan.
"Pizza!" Connor said.
"Did he just?" I said.
"He did." Wren said.
"Jess and Sam never find out we let him stay up late agreed?" I said.
"Agreed." Wren said. "Come on bugger let's watch some cartoons while Auntie Nora talks to her dad." I handed Connor over to Wren and Dad and I went to the kitchen.
"I got your message a bit late so I didn't have time to tell you I was taking Connor for the weekend." I said.
"It's fine it just means Connor and Wren are tagging along." Dad said.
"Don't say it like that." I said.
"Like what."
"Like you're facing impending doom." I answered.
"I did not say it like that."
"Yes you did but come on let's go introduce my godson to the terminator." I said.
Connor had a slice of pizza and enjoyed the movie not that anyone outside that room would ever find out. He knocked out half way through the movie. I picked him up and took him back to his room.
The next morning Connor was up bright and early. I got him out of the crib and put him in his playpen while I got breakfast ready. I make him pancakes and scrambled eggs. He loved it but made a mess. By the time Connor was done Wren and Dad made it downstairs.
"Morning kid." Dad greeted.
"Morning." I said.
"How long have you been up?" Wren asked.
"A few hours. Connor's an early riser." I said.
"Sit down and eat I'll get him cleaned up." Wren said getting Connor out of his high chair.
I got Dad and myself a plate while Dad poured the coffee.
"You two are practically an old married couple." Dad said chuckling.
"Guess that makes you the grandpa." I said and that shut him up.
"I was thinking since you have the kid we could pop over to Disney World and get on a few rides." Dad said.
"As fun as that sounds I don't think Jess and Sam would appreciate me dragging their kid across state lines." I answered.
"It's not like you need his passport." Dad said.
"Dad No besides he isn't even tall enough to get on any rides." I said.
"So what do we do?" Dad asked.
"How about you live a day in our shoes? Grab your hoodie and sunglasses and spend the day with Connor and I running errands." I offered.
"That sounds so domestic." Dad said a bit freaked out.
"Dad have you ever set foot inside a grocery store? A mall? A public park?" I said.
"Of course….not" He said.
"Give it a try. You might actually learn something." I said.
"Fine lets see how the other 99% of the world lives." Dad said.
"Got Connor cleaned up." Wren said "Put him in his play pen and put on Sesame Street."
"That'll keep him busy? What time you meeting up with Kate?" I asked.
"Meeting her at three. Are you sure you can handle Connor on your own? I can cancel" Wren said.
"No. You are going on you're coffee date. Besides the three of us are going to spend the day running errands." I said.
"Seriously?" Wren said.
"Yeah." I said.
"How are you going to pull of being in public without drawing a crowd?" Wren asked.
"I'll wear a disguise." Dad said.
"Disguise?""
"Hoodie Beanie and sunglasses." Dad said.
"Good Luck with that." Wren said.
Later that day-
"You spent three hundred bucks on food and you're telling me that's how much you spend a week?" dad said.
"It's all organic and we went to Whole Foods." I said.
"Were all these clothes really necessary? I don't think Connor is going to get to wear them all?" Dad said.
"We change him like three times a day. He's a messy eater." I said.
"And Cinnabon, Wow mind blown." Dad said.
"It's a game changer. Can you watch Connor while I get dinner started?" I said looking at my sleeping nephew.
"Sure but he's asleep?" Dad said.
"I need to wake him up or else he'll be up all night." I said.
"Okay, I can handle it. I used to watch you all the time." Dad said.
Ten minutes into Dinner Dad got a call.
"Kid I have to go." Dad said.
"Really? But the roast is almost done." I said.
"That was Pepper. She got back early and wants to know where I am." Dad said.
"Oh…" I said.
"I'm sorry." Dad said.
"Hey its okay. We got to keep up appearances, I get it." I said hiding my disappointment.
"I'll make it up to you next time." Dad said.
"Okay, have a safe flight." I said.
"I'll text you when I land." Dad said.
"You better." I answered.
He gave me a quick hug and handed Connor back to me.
After the door slammed I wiped away tears that I couldn't hold back and went back to cooking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wren leaning against the wall.
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked.
"As long as you wanted me there?" Wren answered.
"Means you heard everything." I said. "How was your date?"
"It was good. She's funny. She actually did a year with doctors without boarders. Tons of good stories." Wren said. "We actually made plans to grab lunch on Wednesday."
"That's good." I said. "Dinner's almost ready."
After Dinner I left Connor with Wren and went down to the lab to get some work done. I checked in with my patients in the hospital and no one had been readmitted. I worked on my app and things were going good for a while. I got a text from Adam, one of the members from that tech message board. I had told him I was baby sitting Connor for the weekend and he asked if I wanted to bring him over for a play date with his daughter Max. I replied yes after I checked in with Wren before I went back to work.
I was working on the code when I started getting the chills. I started glowing and I was gone.
I opened my eyes and I was back at the Compound.
"Doctor Stark." Vision greeted.
"Vision, how are you?" I asked.
"I am doing well, just waiting for the others to return." Vision said.
"Mission?" I asked.
"Reconnaissance." Vision said. "Excuse me for a moment I must call in a Code Cronus."
"I'm from April 2013 if that helps." I said.
As soon as vision called it in Natasha walked in.
"Hey Nat." I greeted.
"Nora how long have you been here?" Natasha asked.
"About ten minutes. Did future me do something to make vision mad?" I asked.
"No he's just moping around because Wanda's not here." Natasha said.
"Recon mission right?"
"Yes, I was about to head to the gym, Want to come with?"
"Sounds great but I'm not really dressed for it." I asked.
"I've got that covered come with me. We're doing yoga first." She said.
"Sounds good. Wren's been training me for the past few months so hopefully I can keep up." I said
She handed me a striped grey tank top with an open back and criss cross straps and some black tights. I got dressed and put on the shoes Nat passed to me.
As we were walking to the gym some of the agents looked surprised to see me. The blonde woman I kept seeing everywhere just stared at me with her mouth open.
"What is she doing here?" She asked Nat as we passed by.
"Why wouldn't she be here? Her dad owns the place." Natasha deadpanned before walking away. I stayed right behind her.
"What's her problem?" I said annoyed.
"Relationship trouble. Don't worry about it." She said as we walked into the gym.
"Wow the set up here is great." I said.
"Your Dad does go all out." Nat said as she pulled out a pair of yoga mats.
"Is that a balance beam?" I said.
"Yeah, you should try it out after we finish." Nat said with a smirk.
"I will." I said smiling.
Natasha put on some relaxing music and we went through some basic poses before we did some more advanced poses. By the end of it we were both soaked in sweat.
"Wren's doing a good job." Nat said.
"Yeah, it's intense but you can't argue with the results." I answered.
"Want to spar?" She asked.
"Well the stone heals any injuries or bruises so sure." I said
We spared for what felt like hours. Natasha knocked me down more times than I could count but I did manage to land a few hits and managed to knock here down once. After that she decided she was going to do some weights and cardio. I decided to take this time and try out the balance beam.
I jumped on and flashed back to my gymnastic lessons as a kid. Nana said it was for my physical education requirements but I now know it was to get me to socialize and spend a bit of time out of the lab.
I took a step forward before doing a cartwheel. I wobbled a bit but managed to regain my balance. I turned and did a handstand which was now a lot easier than it had been months ago. I slowly lowered my feet back onto the beam and stood up again. There was something I had been working on but hadn't had a chance to try it out. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I focused my energy at the palm of my hands. I flipped across the beam and right before I dismounted I pushed the energy away from my hand giving me an extra lift so I managed to do an extra flip in the air before I landed. Everything went well until I landed on the ground. My right foot wasn't perfectly straight and I ended up twisting my ankle.
"Ah! Fuck!" I groaned.
"Nora you okay?" Nat came over to check on me.
"Yeah, just twisted my ankle."
"Crap let's get you to the infirmary." She said trying to help me up.
"Wait a sec." I reached down twisted my foot back in the right way. "Mhhm!"
"Why did you do that?!" Nat said freaking out.
"Had to make sure it healed right." I said flexing my foot. The bruising slowly started to fade away. "Still a bit sore but nothing a bit of ice can't fix"
"You got lucky." She said.
"Yeah but it worked." I said.
"Let's go get you some ice." She said pulling me up.
We were in the common room and I was icing my foot when Wanda, Sam and Rhodey came in. "Hey guys, hey Dad" I greeted.
"I'll see you later Nora." Nat said before walking out.
"What happened to you?" Sam asked noticing I was icing my ankle.
"I was on the balance beam and I landed the wrong way so I twisted my ankle. I twisted it back but it was still a bit sore." I said taking the pack off. "How was the mission?"
"A waste of time." Rhodey answered. "Does you're dad know you're here?"
"Don't know. Wanda you should go find Vision. I think he missed you." I said and she smiled a bit.
"I think I know where he is." She said before walking out.
"I need to burn some energy." Rhodey said.
"Going for a run?" I asked.
"No something fun. Come on. Time for some father daughter time." Rhodey said.
"Okay." I got up and followed him to the other side of the compound. We made a turn and walked into a gun range. "Father Daughter time huh?"
"We have paint pellets." Rhodey said.
"Gimme." I said loading a clip into a gun.
"Now you want to…" Rhodey started but I had already fired five rounds and each hit the target.
"Nevermind."
"Remember who taught me." I said grabbing the earmuffs and shooting again. By the time we were both done all the targets were splattered different colors. "Feeling better?"
"Tons." Rhodey said.
"So what's going on Dad." I said.
"What do you mean? Everything's good. I'm feeling a bit hungry." He said changing the subject.
"No dice spill." I said.
"Work is kind of an adjustment." He said.
"Well duh. In the Air force you were pretty high up there but you had a chain of command. You knew there was a reason for everything but here the threats are bigger a lot more black ops and different. You've worked almost you're entire life for the air force it's gonna take a while to adjust." I said.
"I know. I just miss how easy everything was."
"Easy's relative." I answered.
"How are you doing?" Rhodey asked.
"Um pretty good. Work's good. Living with Wren is good. Currently babysitting Connor. Dad visited even though he left after a day because Pepper got home early. Sucks but it's progress." I said.
"You're kinda PO'd aren't you." Rhodey said.
"I don't really get mad. Shooting the targets really helped." I said.
"Nora I've known you your entire life and I know you have a tendency to push what you're feeling aside because you're afraid of hurting those around you." Rhodey said.
"I don't have a lot of people around me so those I do have I tend to keep close."
"Yeah your Dad's the same way."
"Is that why you've stuck around all these years?" I asked.
"No, I couldn't stay away even if I tried."
"Is it because of the soulmarks?" I asked.
"How did you…"
"Dad slipped up once and didn't wear his holosleeve." I said.
"Yeah, you know we're not…"
"I know. You two are just really good friends practically brothers." I said before sighing. "You think life would be easier if we didn't have any marks?"
"Are you asking because of Steve and Bucky?" Rhodey asked.
"No just a hypothetical, imagine a world where soulmarks didn't exist. People just met a person fell in love and then they built their lived with that person and weren't limited to the names marked on their skin." I said.
"Soul marks don't limit the amount of people you can love Nora." Rhodey said. "I mean look at you and your Dad. I'm Tony's only soulmate but that didn't mean he couldn't love Pepper or you for that matter. Or you and your soulmates. That didn't stop you from loving you're friends."
"True, doesn't make it any easier being with out them." I said.
"It'll get better."
"That's what everyone keeps saying. I've buried myself in work, I started developing apps on the side and I've been training nonstop for the past couple of months but it still doesn't make it better. Something just feels off." I explained.
"There's nothing I can say that'll make it better kid, just remember you're not alone."
"I know, thanks Dad." I said hugging him.
"That's what I'm here for." He said. As soon as we broke apart I got the chills and started glowing.
"See you next time." I said before I was gone.
When I opened my eyes I was back at the lab. It had been two hours since I had left and I was exhausted. I went upstairs and took off the clothes Natasha had given me and showered. Then I put on some pjs and made sure the baby monitor was on before knocking out. Maybe Tomorrow will be the day it gets better.
Third Person's POV-
It had been exactly a year since Steve had awoken from the ice but to him it still felt as if he had crashed the plane yesterday. He still woke up in the middle of the night in cold sweats. He still remembered Nora pleading with him not to crash the plane.
He kept himself busy but all that did was tire him out.
Natasha had suggested he try dating again but it just felt wrong.
The three of them had an agreement that if one of them died the other two would go on with their lives. Each of them had agreed but they all knew if one were to go the other two would follow shortly. The one thing they never counted on was if one was left alone what they would do.
Steve had responsibilities he couldn't run away from.
He had finally caved and agreed to dinner with Sharon. She had been so happy he finally asked. Steve just smiled politely and said he'd pick her up at seven. It was six o'clock and it was too late to cancel.
It was just dinner at a diner, something nice and familiar he thought. He grabbed his keys and his wallet before getting the small bouquet of daisies he had picked up earlier. He took a deep breath and sighed before locking up his apartment and knocking on Sharon's door.