I'M BACK BABY! (I couldn't help the Nikki quote. It's just so awesome) I am so sorry I haven't updated this in... oh crap, almost a month... *ducks head in shame* Well if it weren't for someone (you know exactly who you are) I may not have updated this for a while longer. Which only makes me feel like an even bigger jerk.
Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and put this on their alerts, it's pretty awesome to know people actually think this is worth reading.
WHO'S EXCITED FOR THIS WEEK'S TESLA EPISODE?
And for some reason FF seems to have decided it's going to eliminate any and line breaks I have. I have no idea why. But I think I've fixed it. Oh and look now all the boldness and italics are gone too! *sigh*
Cue... nonsensicality...
*ahem* Sanctuary, Captain America and all such are not mine... though really I wish they were...
"Somehow I just don't see it working out." Helen tried to picture Nikola in a boyish scout's attire. That image alone made her laugh once more. Nikola quirked an eyebrow.
"Definitely not!" Helen managed to say between giggles.
Rolling his eyes, Nikola moved back over to the television bank. "Let's just start the movie before both of us grow any older."
"God forbid you lose your looks, it's the only thing you could possibly still have going for you."
Nikola's mouth opened and closed a few times before he huffed and turned back around to face the television again. As he rummaged around, Helen took the opportunity to find a comfortable position on the couch.
A few minutes into the movie and Nikola seemed to have gone into a whole other world, completely engrossed in the film, much to Helen's surprise. To Helen, the film served to remind her of the past; the 40's. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the Steve Rogers character reminder her eerily of someone. It was bugging her. And then it hit her in the theatre scene.
'Sometimes I think you like getting punched.' came the line from the television. Helen smirked. "Reminds me a bit of someone I know."
"Hmmmmm?"
"You are always getting punched, hit, beaten up. You are always asking for it, you and your big mouth. Even when your intentions are pure, you always pick on people bigger than you." Helen shook her head at Nikola, laughing slightly.
"What?"
"Oh just concentrate on the film." Helen chuckled. Nikola looked at Helen sitting beside him, and then turned back to the screen with a small smile on his face.
Moments later Steve and Bucky were walking along and his comment struck Nikola. 'Last eligible man in New York. There's about three million single women.' 'I'd just settle for one.'
"You know, the boy has a point. You have no idea how hard you girls are to woo. AND to chase off! I had to make that ridiculous statement about celibacy just so the women would stop!"
"What?"
"Oh, please you never actually believed that!"
"It was a public statement! How was I to know you were lying?"
"I had to make sure you didn't have too much competition Helen, otherwise you might have been discouraged."
Helen gave Nikola her trademark incredulous look, the one especially reserved for him and scoffing, turned her attention back to the screen, simultaneously distancing herself from Nikola on the couch. Nikola simply sighed and turned back to the movie as well. She'd calm down and see the light soon enough.
Not long after, Nikola was proven right. Helen was starting to lean against Nikola, albeit unconsciously, and he wasn't about to complain. She seemed to be quite taken with this Steve, and oddly enough he didn't like it. What was worse was that he didn't know why.
'This isn't about me.' Nikola heard Steve say. 'Right. Cause you got nothing to prove.' came the response as Helen snuggled closer, much to Nikola's delight and surprise. He faked a yawn, stretching his arms and placed the right one on the back of the couch. Content to just have her beside him, he left it at that, deciding not to push his luck.
They sat in blissful silence until Agent Carter walked on screen. At the remark about the Queen of England, Helen bristled, garnering a hearty chuckle from Nikola.
"Oh Helen, your patriotism and loyalty are very admirable."
"It wasn't just that Nikola, the man was being a pig! I can't stand men like that, men who think they know everything about women and who view them as little more than amusement!"
"We may not be able to understand you half the time, Helen, but women are anything but cheap amusement. Besides, she showed him. Mopped the ground with him very nicely."
Helen sighed but leaned back into the couch, relaxing into the movie. Things were getting pretty interesting. She was eager to see how tiny Steve would fare in the training camp. Besides, comparing him to Nikola was good entertainment. She could just picture Nikola, running along behind everyone, cursing and complaining under his breath, especially about the lack of hygiene. Before she could stop herself, she was silently giggling again, which only gained her a questioning look from Nikola. Shaking her head she pointedly looked back at the film, where Steve was struggling to keep up with the rest of the squad as they stopped by a flag pole. Which, unfortunately turned out to be a very bad moment to start paying attention again. As she watched the whole squad of overly eager men throwing themselves at the flagpole in a desperate attempt to reach the flag, she couldn't help the laughter that burst forth. As Steve strode up to the pole and obtained the flag through intelligence rather than brute force, Nikola smirked.
"I know exactly what you're thinking Nikola. Only you would do something so insolent as that and think everything was fine and dandy."
"What? I beg to differ! That is brilliant! Not only did he use his brain and save himself running who knows how much further, he showed up the rest of the boys AND got a free ride back with a beautiful woman! That, my dear Helen, is commendable. He may have just redeemed Americans from my belief of them being totally useless."
"Nikola!"
"Ok, well, maybe I didn't think they were all useless, but there are few of them who aren't!"
"Nikola! Really!"
"Shush, Helen, just watch the movie. Oh look, Tommy Lee Jones is back, this ought to be interesting!"
"I am not dropping this just because you changed the subject. You cannot base your opinion of a whole nation on just one person!"
"Helen, I know you secretly agree with me. You don't like Americans any more than I do, for the same reasons as I. And you are right. If I based my opinion of the British on a combination of you, Nigel, James, John and your father, well, let's just say I'd think you Brits didn't have a single prudish bone in your bodies. Well, certainly not the men at least. But that's beside the point and I want to see how little Steve will pass this test, so please, shush!"
"I don't like a handful of Americans for the same reasons as you. And I have nothing to say to you about prudishness." There was a pause. "Did you just shush me?"
"Yes, I did just shush you and will do so again, using any means at my disposal if you don't stop talking! I want to hear what they're saying!"
Admitting defeat for now Helen resumed watching the television in silence as the Colonel threw a dud grenade into the midst of the squad. Staring wide-eyed, she smiled slightly as Steve's 'guts' were rewarded by looks of incredulity from everyone around.
'He's still skinny.' came the Colonel's response. Nikola scoffed.
"I resent that! Skinny is childish," he pouted. "Why can't it ever be 'lean' or 'sleek'!"
Helen took one look at Nikola's offended face and rolled her eyes.
"Because then it would be a compliment! Oh Nikola! You never were one for this kind of humour!"
"The boy just proved him wrong and that's his excuse?"
"Nikola, that's exactly how you would've responded in a similar situation!"
"Would not!"
"Oh yes you would, you're so high up in the clouds with your ego."
"Just… watch the movie! You keep distracting me!"
"See?" Helen smirked but Nikola simply rolled his eyes and hugged her closer, pushing her head to rest on his shoulder.
"Just watch the movie already."
Helen smiled and relaxed into him, content to just sit there, silently laughing and gloating, with a smug smile on her face.
As Doctor Erskine sat and talked with Steve as to why he was chosen, Helen thought of the Doctor's reasoning. She agreed with him and when his explanation that 'A weak man knows the value of strength' floated from the speakers, she snuggled up closer to Nikola and hummed in approval.
"He's right. Steve was the best choice. He won't abuse his gift, whatever it may be."
Nikola looked down at Helen, and smiled, lightly stroking her hair. "I like him. He's a good kid."
"That doesn't surprise me. He reminds me of a very good friend of mine. And it makes me really miss him. I haven't seen him in a long, long while."
"Well he must be pretty dense."
"Hmm?"
"I'd have thought that he would be just a little more considerate, having a friend like you. He should visit more often."
"He should. Deep down I know he wants to and would, but I think he doesn't truly know how much I want him to, and so he's afraid. I wish he wouldn't be."
"Maybe you should call him? Or contact him somehow and let him know that you miss him."
"Hmm, maybe I will."
Nikola's heart twinged. Helen sounded very fond of this mysterious friend of hers and Nikola couldn't help feeling jealous and a tad possessive. He would have a talk with this man if he ever met him, leaving his Helen hanging like that. With a sharp pang, he recognized that he was being hypocritical. He saw himself decades and even just months ago, doing exactly that. He had been abusing Helen and his' friendship. She didn't deserve something like that. She hadn't then and she especially didn't deserve it now. Nikola decided that he would change, if he hadn't done so already, and that he would stay, because this was Helen. If this other man didn't realize what an arrogant ass he was being, Nikola would go out of his way to inform him, happily setting the man straight. He would do anything to win back Helen's heart. With a small smirk, Nikola focused again on the film and, unbeknownst to him, continued to run his fingers through her hair.
Let me know what you think!
I promise to try and not be such a terrible person and update soon...er...
CK