Two chapters in one night! I must really love you guys... or this story...
I love angst, if that's not made obvious in this chapter than I don't know what I have to do to convince you all that I do.
Dedicated to Kyla, who would have claimed Loki if I hadn't done so when we saw Thor opening night.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Steve paced the room impatiently as he waited for Angel to come out of the bathroom. She'd spent the entire afternoon in there taking a bath and prepping for their dinner. Steve was uncomfortable with the amount of effort she was putting into getting ready for their dinner. She obviously wanted to make an impression on Logan, which had him wondering if there had been feelings there before she met Steve.
The door to the bathroom opened and Steve turned to see Angel come out in a gorgeous coral dress with black pumps. Her hair was curled so it bounced around her shoulders as she walked. The sight took his breath away as he watched her walk over to her suitcase to put on some earrings.
"You look beautiful," Steve said quietly as he went to put on his dinner jacket.
"Thanks," Angel said as she put in her earrings and went to put her purse together.
"You seem excited," Steve noted, watching Angel closely to measure her reactions.
"It's been a while since I've seen Logan, I'm happy he came to see me," She said with a smile.
Steve's jealousy welled up in his chest, he hated that he wasn't the cause of that smile. Maybe I've been way too strict on the no sex thing…
"We better get going," Angel said, putting her lipstick in her purse and snapping it shut, "We're meeting him in two minutes."
Steve had always thought the day he first woke up from his coma had been the most jarring, uncomfortable experience he ever had. He took that back as he found himself sitting at the table watching Angel smile and laugh as she and Logan swapped stories of their various escapades. If he wasn't sure before, he was sure now that there were feelings between the two of them and he was sure they were romantic.
"And then Sharon walked in and slipped on the floor and fell face first and got that nasty nosebleed," Angel said with a laugh. Logan sat back and threw his head back with a laugh.
"She didn't talk to me for weeks after that. Thank god her nose didn't get messed up or she might have never spoken to me ever again. How is she doing?" Logan asked.
"You know Sharon too?" Steve asked.
"Of course," Logan said; looking at Steve like he was retarded, "Sharon and Angel were practically inseparable. I was worried they were Siamese twins for a while there."
"Hey we've been separated for about two weeks now, that's an all time record for us" Angel said.
"Whoa! You feeling alright kid?" Logan jokingly reached to feel Angel's forehead.
"I'm fine you oaf," Angel said, smacking his hand away, "She's taking some time to herself out at her cabin with her own guy."
"Shar got a guy too?" Logan's eyebrows raised, "And she didn't scare him off?"
"Not this time," Angel said with a chuckle.
"Well I'll be damned, a lot has happened since I last saw you," Logan said, "I'll be better about keeping contact with you ladies from now on."
"We'd love that," Angel said, covering Logan's hand with her own, "Otherwise I'd have to manipulate you into doing so."
"No manipulation necessary here, Sweetheart," Logan said, standing up, "I'm gonna head back to my room for the night, I'll see you tomorrow, Small Fry."
"Okay," Angel said, standing to give him another hug, "It was great to see you, Tinkles."
"You too," He said, turning to Steve and giving him a nod, "Take care of her Captain,"
"I plan to," Steve said, glaring as Logan left the table and Angel sat back down and looked at Steve with confusion.
"What's with the look?"
"Nothing, I think I'm just a bit tired."
"Well I'm done here if you want to go back to the room."
Steve nodded and stood up and held her chair as she grabbed her purse and got up as well. He followed her out the restaurant and the walked in silence back to their room.
Angel immediately went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Steve sat on his bed and started taking off his boots when he noticed the bathroom door was cracked open a little bit and he had a perfect view of her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She was taking off her dress, leaving her only in a thin white slip. He felt his breathing quicken as he fought the urge to go in there and press her body to his.
That was the way Angel found him as she exited the bathroom in her boxers and tshirt she wore as pajamas, "feeling okay there slick?"
"Yeah… just fine," Steve muttered, taking off his shoes and unbuttoning his shirt. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Angel folded her dress and put it back in her suitcase, noticing how nice her back end looked as she bent over. He finished taking off his shirt and threw it behind him and walked over to Angel. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up and around so she faced him.
"Steve what-" but his mouth covered hers before she could finish the sentence. He moved her until she was pressed against the wall, his mouth covering hers completely as he pressed himself against her.
Before she knew it, Steve picked her up and carried her to his bed where he placed her down and crawled on top of her. He began to kiss her neck and play with the bottom of her shirt before she put her hands on his chest and pushed until he looked down at her.
"What are you doing Steve?" Angel asked.
"I thought it was pretty obvious…" He said, leaning down to take her mouth again. Angel moved her head so he kissed her cheek instead.
"Steve stop," She said, pushing him until he rolled off her and she sat up. She turned to look at him and fixed him with a stare, "This wouldn't have to do with Logan, does it?"
"Is it so bad that I want to get close to you?"
"Oh please," Angel said with a scoff, "You've been preaching for weeks about waiting and have been keeping me at arms length. So don't go acting like you spontaneously want to jump my bones now."
Steve sighed and laid back, "I hated watching you with him. There's something there."
"He's a friend, Steve," Angel said, "And just because you're a little jealous does not mean we should have sex so you can mark me as your territory."
Steve opened his mouth to object, but the look on Angel's face told him to keep his mouth shut. That was exactly what he had been trying to do, and shame and regret filled him as he realized he was about to break his own morals.
"I'm going to bed Steve, to sleep," She said, standing and moving over to her bed and turning down the covers. She climbed in and turned off the light, rolling so her back was facing Steve.
Steve got up and walked over to her bed, moving the covers so he could slide in beside her.
"Don't even think about it," Angel said, not moving to even look at him.
"What, I can't sleep with you?"
"You most certainly cannot," Angel said, rolling to pin him with another stare, "You will go and sleep in your own bed."
"But I thought you wanted to sleep together?"
"And I thought you were trying to be respectable and moral," Angel said, "Go back to your own bed before I manipulate you."
Steve turned and went to his own bed, feeling like a miserable idiot doing so. Didn't understand women in the forties, I don't even have a chance now.
*.*.*.*.*.*.
Clint realized after about fifteen minutes that he could knock and yell all he wanted, but Sharon wouldn't be coming out of her room anytime soon. Short of knocking down the door, he knew that it would be a long time before she would come out and see him.
He went into the kitchen and looked at the mess they made, walking over to the supply closet to bring out a mop and bucket. He figured he might as well clean while he waited.
He cleaned the entire kitchen, taking care to mop up all the flour on the ground and wipe off the counter tops. He went to his room and took a short shower and changed so that he would be clean too.
It was about an hour before he was finished with the kitchen, the place spotless and shining. By then the sun was descending and darkness fell. Clint went to the living room and sat, waiting for Sharon to appear. He figured she would get hungry at some point and come out and he could approach her gently. He wanted to explain that he wasn't seducing her so she would talk. He honestly wanted to be with her.
Fact of the matter was, Clint knew that she would talk to him when she was ready. Throughout the past week he'd been approaching topics one at a time and taking his time getting Sharon to open about each one. So far they had discussed her fears of people reactions to her mutation, her time at Xavier's, the extent of her powers, and a little on her need to have control over her own safety rather than let others save her.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized how it could seem like he was seducing her to talk. He felt stupid for having gone so fast with her, he should have taken his time with her.
He sat there with his thoughts for another hour, darkness falling outside. The house was silent, Clint was surprised he hadn't heard any sound come from Sharon's room.
At that thought Clint stood and bolted for the door, running out and taking off in the direction of the tunnel hatch. The hatch was still closed when he got there, he searched around the opening with his small flashlight. There were no fresh footprints or signs that Sharon might have escaped again.
There was no handle to open the hatch on this end, Clint looked all over for a means to open it. Upon looking at the cracks he didn't see a lock in place from the other end. With that observation he stood and walked back to the cabin, walking in and silently walking to Sharon's door.
At first he heard silence, but as he listened closer he heard some sniffling and whimpers. She was crying, and the feeling of helplessness and the need to hold her overwhelmed him.
He walked out to his car and opened the trunk, grabbing his crowbar and shutting the door before starting for the hatch again. He hoped he was right in his assumption that it wasn't locked as he wedged it in the crack and levered it. He was pleased when there was an immediate give and the Hatch cracked open.
He opened it completely and dropped down and inspected the area. The tunnel was well lit, so Clint could see that there weren't any tracks or evidence of recent activity. After closing the hatch and locking it behind him, he walked down the tunnel quietly.
As he got closer to the cellar, he could hear the whimpers of Sharon's crying grow a little louder. He hurried along until he reached the cellar and found the stairs leading to her room. He climbed up and opened the hatch slowly, peeking his head up to check if she was out of bed.
He then crawled out and closed it silently before crouching and looking up onto the bed slowly; what he saw broke his heart.
Sharon was curled into a bawl in the middle of the bed, her knees were pressed to her chest as her elbows and forearms were pressed together to make a shield over her chest and face. Her body shook and shivered as she continued to cry and whimper.
Clint stood and walked around to the side Sharon was facing; because it was dark he couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. He sat down gently on the side of the bed and brushed her hair out of her face and saw tears streaming from her closed eyelids.
She sobbed a little louder and began to shake her head rapidly at his touch, her whimpering sounding more like real words.
"Please just stop. No more. Please." She was saying, more tears coming as her body shook to hold back more sobs.
"Sharon I won't hurt you," Clint said, moving closer but Sharon batted his hands away from her and started to thrash on the bed. Clint watched in horror as she fought invisible hands and batted at the air and shrieked with sobs, more begging and pleading escaping from her mouth as she shrieked some more.
What the hell is going on! Clint thought, realizing he caught her in the middle of a nightmare and touching her was only making it worse.
"Sharon wake up, I need you to open your eyes and look at me," He said, but she only threw out another hand to bat away an invisible adversary.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE!" She screamed, rolling over again and sobbing into the surface of the bed.
Clint battled with the urge to just pull her into his arms, but he could tell that would only make her more violent and there was a risk of her absorbing his abilities and fighting back. He looked around to see what he could use when he saw the door to her attached bathroom open. He rushed in and grabbed the cup by the sink, filling it with cold water quickly and bringing it back into the room.
Sharon was clawing at her arms to remove invisible bonds, her nails beginning to create some serious damage to her arms. Clint took the cup and dumped the cold water on Sharon's head, drenching her and her hair.
She sat up with a yelp and looked around wide-eyed. Clint put the cup down and moved slowly over to the bed, "Sharon?"
Her head turned to see him, but she seemed to be looking right through him. She stared for a few minutes longer before her face crumpled and she fell back to the bed and started to silently cry.
Clint moved and gathered her in his arms and held her in his lap. Sharon put her arms around him and buried her face in his neck as she continued to cry and shake. Clint held her there while she cried, not sure how long it would take until she would invariably push him away like the last time, but he swore he would hold her until she stopped.
He waited until she was still and silent in his arms, but she never once moved to leave his embrace or push him away. He waited a long time before moving to see if she was still awake. He brushed her wet hair out of her face to see her asleep, her face peaceful despite the red around her eyes and the stains on her cheeks from tears shed.
Refusing to let her go, he shifted so she laid on the dry side of the bed while he spooned her from behind on the wet spot where the water had been dumped. He held her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head, refusing to let go and let the demons come back and torment her.
I'll do whatever it takes to rid her of all her suffering, he vowed, I will fight her demons even if it kills me, I will give her the peace she deserves.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be posting the first chapter of my Bruce/Natasha fic shortly! It will be a spinoff of this fic, starting off around chapter 8 of this fic. I hope you all like it as much as you like this one :)
Feedback is always appreciated!
Alasiel