A/N: Hey guys, sorry about not posting on Monday. Stuff came up :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney or the Avengers. Just Mia :)
"Oooo, whatever that is, it smells amazing," I moaned as I entered my floor.
"Hey doll, how was work?"
"I estimate you will hardly see me next week." I said kissing him sweetly as he continued to work on dinner. All I heard was soft thumping and the jingling of a collar before a small mass of fur crashed into my legs.
"Hello sweet girl," I said picking her up. She licked my face, sweetly, clearly happy to see me.
"She loves you more. She was looking to the elevator all day, and whimpering for you."
"She's known me all of a day," I scoffed.
"She knows. She's smarter than you give her credit for."
"Well, I don't know how much longer I can let her sleep in my bed. Soon I won't be able to say no." I sighed as she tried to eat my hair. He chuckled as he moved the food he was preparing to plates, taking them to the table and returning to the counter to grab a large bowl filled with salad.
"Athena should go play with her toys while we eat," Steve said, chuckling again at how I was acting towards the dog.
"Okay," I said dejectedly, while setting her down next to her toys. She immediately pounced on her stuffed tiger, and I sat down at the table.
"You also cleaned up, from what I can tell," I laughed, looking around my floor.
"I just shuffled some papers, and carefully put them in your study." He said as he dished some salad onto his plate. I had already began eating, when I scrunched my face up in confusion.
"I have a study?" I asked, confused. I hadn't had a chance to really look around the place, so I was wondering where on earth this room was.
"Yeah, it's in the library." He said, as I dished my own salad. He kept looking at me, smiling.
"You're joking," I said, noticing his grin.
"Yeah," He laughed, "They are neatly sitting on the couch in your room."
"Trying to pull a fast one on me Captain, not very nice," I said, narrowing my eyes. He continued to smile as we ate, telling him about my upcoming surgeries.
"You seem almost happy about these tumors. Aren't tumors a bad thing?" He said, not understanding me.
"I'm a surgeon. It's is automatically stated that I like to cut, otherwise I would have stuck with being a regular doctor." I joked.
"So, brain tumors are a good thing to you." He said, looking at me funny.
"No, I don't wish them on anyone. But when they happen, I am the best at removing them. I have over 200 good outcomes, and I've only ever lost 20 patients due to unforeseen complications. And that's just tumors. I deal with brain bleeds, aneurysms, and the spinal cord too." I explained.
"Unforeseen complications?" He wondered, meaning he wanted me to explain.
"Usually a stroke, or what we call a Perfect Storm. Everything is fine until, one-second the patient's vitals drop, and suddenly dies without any indication of why. Usually it's during the autopsy we discover the cause. Sometimes patient's die for no reason at all."
"And how do I need to comfort you on those days?" He asked, intuitively.
"Usually a bubble bath, lots of wine, and just being held does the trick," I said sadly, as I looked up.
"Nothing else?" He asked, assuming I was leaving things out.
"I'm usually falling apart, so to feel as though someone is trying to keep all my pieces together by holding me, it helps. I'm really more in the mindset of 'what did I do wrong'. I go over each surgery in my head, trying to figure out what I missed. I usually obsess over it for days, if not weeks before we get the complete autopsy results. Usually it isn't something I did, but something we missed."
"Sometimes it's out of your control doll," he said, taking my hand over the table.
"I know that." I said, finishing off my plate, picking it up to go wash the dishes.
"Alright then. I'll pour you a bubble bath, a large glass of wine and hold you." He smiled softly at me, as he followed me back to the kitchen.
"God, I could really go for a bubble bath now," I laughed.
"How about we enjoy a glass of wine, and then I'll leave you to your bubble bath." He said, grabbing two glasses and a bottle from my wine cooler.
"Ooo, I love this vintage," I exclaimed as Athena barked at the opening elevator doors.
"Athena, stay!" I said, racing to make sure she would stay in the living room. She was a very smart dog, and I was beginning to think I barely needed to train her.
"Hello?" A voice called out.
"In here Sam!" Steve called, to which the owner of the voice came around the corner.
"I've got a lead, that I- Hey, I'm Sam Wilson." A tall, muscular African American man said suavely.
"I'm Mia Stark." I giggled.
"Not again," he sighed, "Cap, you get all the pretty ones!" Sam said as I showed him to the kitchen.
"This one is for keeps man, don't try and steal her out from under my nose," Steve joked.
"You say that like I'm easy swayed," I said picking up Athena.
"Hey, a running partner that will keep up with me," Sam said scratching her head.
"Not for another little while," I laughed.
"You said you had a lead," Steve said, filling one wine glass. I watched as he put the bottle away as well as the other glass, as I picked mine up. Was he planning on leaving right now?
"He's back in D.C, has been for a week. I've kept an eye on him, while you found your girl here," he smiled at me.
"You were the friend who told him to find me," I pieced together, "And you're most likely leaving tonight to go get Bucky."
"Yeah, I don't know when I'll be back." He sighed.
"Well, I'll ask Bruce to watch her while I'm at work and you're away," I figured.
"What about Tony?"
"The man built me DUMMY, so that I would stop asking for a pet."
"Good point," Steve said before giving Sam a look.
"I'll go start packing your things," Sam said, laughing as he walked back to the elevator.
"Hurry home Captain," I said, holding Athena up to give him a kiss on the cheek. He playfully wiped it off before setting her down. Wrapping both arms around my waist, he pulled me flush against him.
"When I get back, I will draw you a bubble bath, pour some wine or champagne, have those chocolate covered strawberries ready to feed to you while you relax. And after you're relaxed, I'm going to take you to bed. If you say no, I will respect that. But if you say yes, I will show you what you mean to me. Even now, I feel like you were meant for me." Steve said softy, as he cradled my face.
"Sam can wait like five minutes, because I am feeling hot and bothered now." I joked, while being serious.
"Technically we'll have been dating longer when I get back, not just two days." He said, smiling down at me.
"Why does the length of our time together matter, rather than how we use our time together?"
"Because it won't seem like a relationship based purely off of the physical side of things. I want to know you emotionally, and mentally too. I want this to last," He whispered the last part as he ducked down to brush his lips across mine. The way he kissed me revealed so much more passion that what I was expecting.
"Wait for me," He said sweetly.
"I will, always," I whispered. There was a pause as he backed up, and I felt my eyes water slightly.
"Wait for me, I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised.
"It won't be soon enough," I smiled as a tear rolled down my cheek. He smiled sadly at me, before turning and strolling into the open elevator. I busied myself as the doors closed, so I didn't start crying openly.
"You've known him for a total of three days," I scolded myself.
"But I feel like I've known him forever," I argued in my head. Calling Athena, I realized I would need to sleep soon, so I didn't oversleep tomorrow. Once the elevator was free, we rode up to the lab floors. Athena was content to trot by my side as we searched for Bruce.
"Bruce?" I called, finding him deep in thought in front of a hologram. Tony was asleep behind a stack of papers, and several pieces of tech.
"Mia, how are you?" He asked, turning timidly to smile at me.
"I'm okay. Steve just left for D.C. with his friend, looking for another friend." I said, to which Bruce nodded.
"And… who is this?" He asked, seeing the ball of fur next to my legs.
"This is Athena. Tony had her put in my place before our argument last night. But I'm not ready to forgive him yet, so I'm not going to thank him."
"Oh, well hello," He said, to Athena, who nodded at him. Looking surprised, he looked back up at me.
"What can I do for you tonight?"
"What I really need is for someone to watch her tomorrow while I'm at work. Steve did it today, but I have no idea when he is going to be back." I said, noticing Tony stirring, but ignoring him.
"Mia?" he asked groggily.
"Will you be able to watch her?" I asked Bruce.
"Of course, though I'm not a person that plays with dogs."
"She's easy. Give her any stuffed animal, specifically her stuffed tiger, and she'll be content until you call her. She's very well behaved. She may whine for a bit, wanting Steve or myself, but she'll get over it." I explained.
"What if she needs to go to the washroom?" He asked, confused.
"I have another artificial turf patch. It was the prototype, but it... works just as well…" Tony said, stuttering at my hard gaze.
"Now, I will be letting her sleep in tomorrow. If you wouldn't mind coming down around 7 or 8am to pick her up." I said, looking back at Bruce.
"I'm usually up around 4am, just drop her off when you need."
"Do you guys ever sleep?" I laughed, agreeing to drop her off, before turning around. As I started towards the elevators I heard, "I'm not going to apologize for what I did to Rogers."
"And that is why I won't be speaking to you," I said as I continued walking.
"I have every right, as I was the only one around the raise you. I didn't get the chance to beat the hell out of Connor, and I should have known you'd have better judgment." He said, making me stop, Athena crashing into my legs.
"We are the only family we've got. I was never there when you needed me, so I'm trying to make up for that, by punching your potential boyfriends in the face. Not the greatest plan, but I was a little blindsided by rage. Knowing your sister is not a 'little girl' anymore, and seeing who is defiling your sister, there's a big difference in reactions." Tony said, walking in front of me, and giving me his best smile.
"It doesn't excuse the fact that you acted irrationally. Trust me that I have thought about the consequences of my actions, and how that makes me look. But I am an adult, and I have been for years." I said, staring him down.
"I know. I still see you as the little sister that loved playing with trains on rainy days. Small, innocent, happy. Somewhere along the line, I took that light from your eyes." He said, before pressing a kiss to my temple, and walking back to his desk.
"The day Rhodey called."
"What?" He asked confused as I kept my back to him.
"The day Rhodey called to say you were missing, was the day the light went out in me. I was already an orphan, just then I was officially alone in the world. I had no more hope," I said, picking Athena up and continuing to the elevator. As the doors closed, I looked back to see Tony with tears in his eyes. I let out a breath I had been holding, and with it came tears.
As the doors opened again, I smiled at Athena trying to wiggle out of my arms.
"Where's your tiger?" I said, in a baby voice. She bolted to her pile of toys making me chuckle.
"Ma'am, Sir would like me to tell you that he will personally be taking care of your canine companion while Captain Rogers is away. Also that you can leave her sleeping tomorrow morning, as Sir will come get her." JARVIS announced.
"Thanks Jarvis. Tell Tony that I acknowledge his message, and I have no problem with that."
"I don't know if I can sleep now," I complained to myself. Turning off the lights in the kitchen and living room, I walked to my bedroom, Athena hot on my heels.
"I'll set my clothes out for tomorrow, and have a bath," I said to Athena, who circled around herself in excitement.
"Oh and you want a bath too?" I laughed, sniffing her fur. She smelled clean, which led me to believe Steve actually followed through on his promise.
"You can stay outside the tub missy," I laughed as I padded into the bathroom, to turn on the water. She was content to chew on her tiger while I relaxed in the tub. I texted Pepper to see if she wanted to hang out the next night, as I would have nothing but time in between work and sleeping. She was excited to take me shopping the following day, but I was worried about leaving Athena with Tony the whole day.
"Can't baby you forever," I said as I pet her ears softly. She promptly jumped up and into the tub, splashing happily.
"You silly little dog," I laughed, soaping her up. After drying her off, and setting out my outfit for the next day, I settled into bed, with Athena curled up in her own bed.
"Good night sweet girl," I mumbled.