Shadowed Past: Visions of Affliction
Chapter 4 (Filler): July 4th Birthday Wishes
I checked the calendar, a huge grin appearing on my face.
It was a week until July 4th.
A week until Steve's birthday.
He always insisted that I shouldn't do anything for his birthday...
Like that was going to stop me.
Piper always helped me prepare for Steve's birthday party, and Tony would let me decorate Avengers Tower.
But this year, things were different.
The temporary base wasn't exactly the largest, and there were limits on who we could actually invite since the place had to stay as top secret as possible.
"Hey, did you find the box with the streamers in it yet?" Piper called.
"No!" I shouted. I was digging around in Piper's closet, trying to find one last box of decorations. Piper kept the boxes of party decorations in her closet since she kept things organized and she had the extra space since she was the only one living in her assigned apartment.
"It has to be in there somewhere!"
"I know!"
I felt the beads of sweat forming on my forehead and the smell of cardboard and dust bunnies filled my nostrils. It smelled like spring cleaning and I could feel my frustration levels rising. I was kneeling on the floor, my hair drooping down on my left in a messy braid aside from the small wisps hanging around my flushed face. I was digging through box, after box, after box, and it seemed like the hunt was never going to end.
And I was only looking for streamers.
I threw my hands up, groaning in defeat. "Can't we just go buy some more?! This is ridiculous!"
"And how would we get there? Fly?" Piper replied sarcastically.
I'd forgotten that almost all sources of transportation had been cut off from basically everyone at the base unless it was provided by staff and they had to know where you were going, and why. The only transportation that hadn't taken from anyone was their own two legs.
I sighed in defeat. "You know what? Who needs streamers?! We'll be fine!" I continued my ranting I walked out of the closet.
"Umm, Alex?" Piper muttered.
"What?!" I shouted.
She held up the rolls of streamers and I inhaled deeply to keep from screaming.
"Okay, we found them. That's good." I breathed. "I'm...I'm just gonna, take five. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, be my guest. Just don't take too long, we've got a lot of stuff to do."
I walked out to the hall, rounding a few corners until I made it to Steve and I's apartment room. I placed my hand against the scanner on the wall until I heard the familiar beep of granted access. The door popped open, and I slipped inside. I rested my back against the door with my head in my hands until I felt it click shut once again. I exhaled deeply into the silence of our room before opening my eyes and leaning my head back against the door.
"What has decorating come to, Alex?" I muttered to myself.
I changed into a new t-shirt and new pair of shorts and splashed my face with cool water to regain myself. I usually didn't get this stressed about decorating, especially for Steve's birthday, but I was just overwhelmed. The lucid nightmares and terrifying visions certainly hadn't been helping.
Before heading back to Piper, I grabbed a couple of CDs that we could listen to and a couple of empty boxes in case we needed them.
"Hey, you changed!" Piper grinned as I walked into her room and maneuvered my way around the door.
"Yeah, I figured some fresh clothes might help calm me down since the other ones were all sweaty and gross already."
"Good call. And while you were gone not only did I find the streamers but I also came across these bad boys!"
I looked up to see Piper holding two huge bags of patriotic colored confetti while a devious grin on her face.
"And what will we use those for?"
"Well, we either get confetti canons or we drop them from the rafters."
"Hmm, buckets in the rafters would be good, and if we got them all to dump at the same time it could rain confetti when everyone jumps out and yells surprise!"
"See! You're good at this."
There was sudden knock on the door, making Piper and I both freeze. She dropped the bags of confetti, and I worked as fast as possible to shove things off of Piper's bed in case Steve was at the door.
Piper made her way to the door, cracking it open only an inch or so. "Please leave a message after the beep...beep!" She shouted.
I could hear a man's voice, but it was muffled enough by the door that I couldn't tell who it was.
"Hey, there's an old fart out here claiming to be Tony Stark who wants in the room!"
"Let him in!" I called.
"It's about time, geesh, you guys act like you're managing a cult in here." Tony scoffed as he walked through the doorway.
"Well, decorating is like a cult. Only organized and no satanic rituals."
"Fair enough." He said.
"C'mere oldie," I chuckled, darting over and giving him a hug.
"I didn't know you stopping by so soon! You kind of disappeared after helping Bruce with my...medical tests."
"Sorry, duty calls. And what's this I hear about you being hospitalized again?"
"Long story. We can talk later. Is Pepper coming too?"
"She should be flying in the 3rd or possible the morning of the 4th, but she'll be here."
"Awesome! This is just so great, everything is going to be amazing!" I squealed.
"I can see things coming along. But, isn't July 4th in like, a week?"
"Yes, but there's invitation addressing and sending to do, making sure we have everything, planning out exactly what we are going to do, and making sure everyone knows the plan without Steve finding out about the surprise party. It's a rough life."
"I see."
"Wait, quick question," I piped up.
"Yeah?"
"Is there any way you could hook us up with some really cool fireworks? Good quality, big explosions...?"
"Surely, but, what have you ever done for me to deserve this kind of praise?" Tony questioned teasingly.
"Isn't my love enough?" I said, quivering my bottom lip and giving him big puppy dog eyes.
"I guess," he said, rolling his eyes and giving me another hug. "Give me a couple of days, and I see what I can do."
"Thank you!"
"No problem. Don't hurt yourselves!" He called as he walked out.
"No promises..." Piper muttered.
Later that day, Piper and I had all of the invitations addressed and had officially gone through about ten albums of music.
"Okay, I will get these in the mail, and you need to get back in time for Steve. If you're not in your room when he gets back he'll know something's up." Piper said.
"Alright, thank you so much for helping me." I smiled, giving her a hug.
"My pleasure. Now go! Your man awaits!"
I made my way down the hallway rather hastily, knowing that I was cutting it close to around the time when Steve gets back from training every day.
Just as I rounded the corner to where our room was, I saw him already standing outside the door, fiddling with the scanner.
"Hey, hon!" I smiled, walking up to him, giving him a hug and peck on the lips.
"Hey I was wondering where you were when you didn't answer the door."
"Oh, I was just chilling with Piper. She had some time off today and wanted to hang out for a little while."
"That's good, you're getting out a little." He grinned warmly, making me smile.
We walked in the apartment together, and went about our normal afternoon conversation. The same old questions were asked:
"So how was your day?"
"Did you do anything special while I was gone?"
"Have you seen (insert name here) lately?"
"How was training?"
Etc.
The next thing I knew, it was July 4th.
And so far, Steve was absolutely clueless about his party.
I had wished him a happy birthday in the morning, and the day had carried on as just another normal one until after the training session was over.
Sam had gotten there early that morning, and as soon as Steve was done with training Sam got him busy with conversation. They eventually wandered off to somewhere else on base, and that was Piper and I's cue to start decorating.
The afternoon seemed to fly by, and Piper and I were down to the wire on getting everything put up. Clint had come back to visit for a couple of days and for the party of course. Rhodey was on his way, Pepper had flown in about on hour or two ago, and the whole family was getting back together. The last time everyone had seen each other was Tony's big party at Avenger's Tower, and that felt like forever ago. Sam was keeping Steve busy by talking about their current on-hold mission of finding Bucky while everyone else was helping with decorating, including myself.
Tony was out working on setting up the fireworks outside, Natasha, Pepper, Wanda, Piper and I were decorating the main dining hall where the party was going to mostly take place, Clint was working on getting the buckets for the confetti set up in the rafters since he didn't mind heights, and everyone was hustling around doing whatever needed to be done.
"Hey, has anybody seen Thor yet?!" I called over all the noise.
I got an encore of "No!" in return. Great. I couldn't exactly send mail to Asgard and nobody had heard from Rapunzel's masculine twin in weeks.
I went back to working on tying up the streamers...those blasted 'hide and go seek' streamers...and I suddenly heard thunder roar outside.
"Never mind!" I shouted. I finished taping up the last bit of the section I was working on and darted outside to greet the Asgardian.
"Lady Alex!" He called, his voice deep yet cheerful as always.
"Meatloaf!" I chuckled, practically running into a hug with him.
Thor's hugs were great and all, but sometimes I felt like I was going to die.
Talk about not knowing your own strength.
"So, what is it that needs to be done in order for the Captain's birthday celebration?"
"Well, Tony is on firework duty for later tonight, the girls are helping me decorate the dining hall, well, and Clint, he's working on confetti for the rafters, and honestly there are people running around everywhere. I'm not sure what you're best at, but, I'm sure there's something you can do."
Once we were back inside, Piper came running up to me.
"Red alert! Sam texted saying Steve's starting to worry about where you are! Go back to your room, just stall until I text you, okay? We've got everything under control."
"Okay," I breathed, my pulse racing and my body coming to life with excitement.
"And try to get into your nice dress before he gets back to your room!" Piper called as I darted off.
"I'll do what I can!"
"Hey, Piper?" Clint called down from the rafters.
"Yeah?" She called up.
"We, we-uh...kinda left a surprise for Alex, for Steve...on their bed..."
"What?!" Piper shouted.
Nat snickered, and Piper grew worried.
"Well, what's the surprise, Clint?" Piper snapped.
I sprinted back to Steve and I's room.
I got inside with minutes to spare, and I darted across the room to the closet.
I began changing into the dress I'd bought for Steve's birthday, which was a legitimate Captain America dress Piper had found online. It was a blue silk halter dress, with Steve's shield on the the left side of the skirt and a red belt across the rib cage.
As I was frantically changing, I noticed something at the foot of the bed.
It was a little white box, with a red bow on top.
I darted over and red the tag on top.
To: Alex...for Steve
From: Your Loving Friends, Clint, Natasha, and Tony.
I took of the lid part of the box, and my eyes widened at what was inside.
A skimpy, practically 100% transparent, silky, strappy, patriotic...lingerie.
"You've got to be joking." I breathed, a mix of horrified and concerned at the piece of fabric in front of me.
Just as I started to pick it up, I heard Steve messing with the scanner outside the door again.
He still hadn't figured the thing out and we'd been using if for a couple of months now.
I quickly put the lid back on the box and slid it under the bed, just in time before Steve opened the door. I blew a wisp of hair out of my face nervously and started wiping my sweaty palms on the skirt of my dress.
"Happy birthday!" I called.
Steve grinned his famous grin, walking up to me and kissing me.
"Thanks, babe. You didn't have to dress up just for me."
"I did. You know I did." I smiled, resting my hands on his shoulders as he put his hands on my hips.
"And a Captain America dress? I approve." He chuckled.
"I'd certainly hope so." I laughed softly.
We rested our foreheads together and shared a chaste kiss. I always had to stand up on my tip toes when I was barefoot to kiss him properly, which made him smile.
"Did you have a good time with Sam?"
"Yeah, we've just got lots of work to do."
"Does he have any news on...you know who?"
"No. Not recent. He's gone radio silent ever since Washington. There's been a few cases here and there, but, they're almost too far out to tell us anything."
I could see the pain and hurt from Steve's eyes. I knew how much he missed Bucky, and I felt horrible for him.
"We'll find him. I promise."
He nodded gently in response, looking down slightly to try and hide the pained expression on his face.
"Hey, lets not think about sad things. Let's think about happy things," I said lovingly, wrapping my palm in his. "You're officially 97, technically you're only 32 if you subtract the ice age."
He grinned at my use of words. "Did you do all of this math?"
"Yes. I did. You went under when you were 27 in 1945, and they brought you up again in 2011. Therefore, that adds four years minus the 70 spent frozen so you've experienced 32 years alive actually conscious, while you've actually survived 97."
"I can't wait to explain this to our children someday."
"Yeah, someday." I smiled.
I suddenly got slapped back into reality by the cold draft of air hitting my mid back.
I'd completely forgotten to zip up my dress. In the midst of the chaos, I had tied the halter straps in a bow behind my neck, but I didn't actually zip the back up.
"Hey, would you mind helping me zip my dress up?"
"No problem," Steve muttered, a small blush rising to his cheeks.
I turned around and moved my hair out of the way to give him access, and he slid the zipper up the back of my dress with ease.
"Thank you." I sighed.
"You're welcome."
No matter how close Steve and I had gotten, he still blushed at the little things like he did when we had just met.
Another reason why I loved him.
Suddenly my phone buzzed and I darted over to answer it.
"Hello?"
"How's the stalling coming along?" Piper whispered. "Do you need back up?"
"No, I'm great! No problems here." I smiled, turning around and grinning at Steve.
"So you're good?"
"Yeah, totally." I paused. "Is there any thing you need...or?"
"No, no, we're good. Rhodey just got here and the last couple of guests are rolling in. We're almost ready and Tony just got finished with the fireworks. I'll give you a buzz when everyone's hiding. Give us about five to ten minutes."
"Sounds great, I'll see you in the morning!" I said, cheerfully.
"Huh?" Piper muttered, not understanding my code. I quickly hung up before she could blow our cover.
"Is Piper okay? She usually doesn't call at this time of night." Steve said.
"Yeah, yeah. She just wanted to get together again, you know her. Party animal."
It was quiet for a moment, before I decided to let on that I was taking Steve somewhere. He was probably wondering why I was dressed up anyways.
"Well, if you were wondering, I'm taking you out dinner for the night."
"I thought we weren't allowed to leave..."
"They're making something special for you tonight in the dining hall." I muttered.
"It sounds great. I'll go change." He smiled, kissing my forehead before walking over to the closet. I walked into the bathroom and started putting on a some makeup and fixing my hair. I wanted to look nice in all of the pictures that were going to be taken.
Steve and I walked down the main hall, keeping up conversation to try and drown out the silence. Everyone was gone. They were hiding and waiting for us to arrive. I didn't want Steve to begin to wonder where everyone was, but it was a little late for that.
"Where did everyone go? The halls are never this empty..."
"Who knows." I sighed.
"And what about Sam? He said he was going to be hanging around, but, I haven't seen him for hours."
I felt a smile creep onto my face.
I turned to be in front of Steve and stopped him dead in his tracks.
"What is it?" He chuckled.
"You trust me, right?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know. I was just double checking." I said as I pulled out a handkerchief.
Steve looked at my questioningly. "What's that for?"
"Do you trust me?" I asked again, folding the fabric to cover his eyes.
"Yes." He answered, going along with what I was doing. I gently tied it around his eyes, and held his warm hand in mine.
"Okay, now I'm going to lead you somewhere. Don't try and guess, just follow me."
"Yes ma'am." He teased.
I led Steve down the halls and all the way to the dining hall, which was dimly lit. Piper popped up from behind a table and gave me a quick thumbs up before crouching back down.
"You can take off the blindfold, Captain." I said, not able to suppress the smile on my face.
He untied the blindfold and looked around at the dark room questionably until the lights came on and everyone jumped out and yelled "Surprise!", including myself. Confetti started to rain from the ceiling, and I mouthed a thank you to Clint across the room. He winked in response, making me laugh.
Steve leaned down to me, the smile not able to leave his face either.
"Alex, did you do all of this for me?"
"Of course I did! Did you really think I was going to let your birthday slip by without a party?"
"I love you, so much."
"I love you too, old man." I chuckled.
He smiled, kissing my lips quickly before returning his focus to everyone around us.
And so the party began.
Everyone was talking, laughing, telling funny stories, just overall having a great time. I looked around and felt proud that I could bring everyone back together for a trip down memory lane.
I went to grab another drink when I ran into Clint and Natasha, who had huge smiles on their faces.
"I'm not wearing that gift you two and Tony got me. It's just disturbing."
"Aw come on!" Nat whined. "Steve would love it."
"That's not our type of thing. I'm giving it back to you when I get the chance."
"Did Steve see it yet?" Clint asked.
"No, I hid it before he could see it."
"Party pooper." Clint sighed.
"Look, thanks for your 'generosity' and all, but Steve's not a kinky person. He probably doesn't even know that the term "birthday suit" is dirty and it probably doesn't even cross his mind that...that is considered a birthday gift for a spouse." I said.
"We were just trying to have a little fun, geesh." Nat laughed.
"Well you two," I said, pointing to them with my index and middle finger, "are dirty."
"You got that right." Clint muttered as I walked away.
Later into the night, Tony called as all outside and the firework show began.
The fireworks were huge in the sky, exploding bursts of color and truly beautiful ones at that. Some had different shapes, one was just like Steve's shield.
"I can't thank you enough, for, everything." Steve practically yelled into my ear over the loud explosions of color in the night sky.
"You're welcome!" I shouted back, laughing before kissing him lovingly as a firework exploded in the background directly over our heads in the shape of a heart.
Chapter 5 Preview:
Alex knows that whatever going on in her head certainly isn't just PTSD from the battle with Ultron. Piper and Alex turn to mythology books for answers since science has failed to answer their questions. They soon discover that the answers they've been looking for are closer than they ever imagined.