"Master Rogers, it's your friend again."
"Thank you Jarvis."
Etana is waiting in the main living area, managing to ignore Clint peppering her with questions.
"So you're how old exactly?"
"I lost count years ago."
"And you can fly?"
"What does it look like?"
"And you teleport? Which is really cool. And you knew Nick Fury when he had both eyes?"
"Yes, I knew Nick when he had binocular vision and depth perception. Hi Steve."
She rolls her eyes, a very difficult motion to catch as her eyes are all silver.
"Clint, don't you have something you should be doing?"
He shrugs.
"Not really. It's much more fun to annoy Feathers here."
'Tana just sighs and turns on her image inducer.
"Do you know how much easier my life has become with this gadget? The golden age was the Middle Ages when I could pass myself off as an angel. The only danger would be getting injured and being accused of being a demon. I was almost burned at the stake eighteen times!"
That apparently sinks it for Clint who starts laughing. 'Tana just sighs.
"Remind me to burn him at the stake at some point."
Clint shuts up. That's the thing with 'Tana. Very few people can tell when she's joking. I can tell by the slight crinkling of the skin around her eyes that she's teasing but to Clint, all he sees are these dark brown eyes that glow in a faintly threatening way. I offer her my arm.
"I don't think Jarvis would like it if you set fire to him here."
She laughs and takes it.
"Do you want to leave the easy way or the hard way?"
"Easy please. Away from the cameras."
She grins and teleports us away. We reappear in a bustling street.
"Where are we?"
"Come on Mr I-Know-Every-Street-In-New-York. You tell me."
"38th Street, Manhattan."
She laughs happily.
"Correct!"
"I had to ask to be polite."
"There's a kosher restaurant here. I hope you don't mind, it's just horrible to try and find a kosher dish in a non-kosher restaurant."
"That's fine."
"Good. So Mister America, now we're both off duty, what do you want to do?"
"Mister America?"
"I have an inferiority complex. I don't like addressing you as Captain unless I get to be General. And you're off duty."
It's hard to believe that a little under a month ago, she was dying of the Legacy Virus. This is the first time Beast has allowed her out of either mansion and I think it was only because she said she wanted to catch up with me that he let her go. We walk through the bustling passers-by and I have to keep glancing at her to get used to the sight of her without the wings and tail and fur. She looks…odd. Beautiful but not my 'Tana. I think her facial structure is the same because the eyes are the same almond shape only a deep brown and… I hate to say it like this…normal. Normal for most people I mean. Normal for her would be soft silver. Her hair is a glossy black and her skin is tanned, the sort of tan you need to have spent a lifetime in the sun to get. She throws her head back, laughing at some private joke and pulls me into a calm restaurant. A man hurries over and smiles.
"Miss Zillah! It's good to see you again. We thought you must have moved. And your friend?"
"Captain Rogers. An old friend of mine. Jacob, can you take us to the usual table?"
He nods and we are shown to a small table in the corner of the room. I can tell Etana chose it. Shadowed, with a view across the entire restaurant and into the street as well as set back from all fire exits, toilets and the kitchen. In other words, the perfect place for a suspicious teleporter to sit. The server gives us a smile.
"The usual Ma'am?"
She nods.
"And for sir?"
I flick through the menu and order then glance at 'Tana.
"How often do you come here?"
"Quite a lot."
"You? Have a habit? I thought you said habits got you killed?"
"I've changed Discus-Boy. Maybe you hadn't noticed."
I bow my head.
"I'd noticed."
And I have. She's more…not exactly open…maybe…less suspicious. More free with her affections. She shows people she cares a lot more than she used to.
"So, why exactly did you invite me out?"
I shrug.
"I suppose…it's the change from platonic to…er…"
"Romantic? Oh, how sweet."
"Can you be any more sarcastic?"
"Look, I practically invented modern sarcasm. So, what are we doing after this?"
"Er… I was thinking… you know that British comedy show you're always showing me?"
"Which one? Monty Python? The Goodies? Doctor Who? Now that was a day and a half…"
I do not want to know. 'Tana suggesting she knows a fictional character from a sci-fi show with a cult following isn't actually that mad.
"Monty Python. I managed to get tickets to that show… What's it called…?"
"You got tickets for Spamalot! Oh Steve."
And they're worth every cent for the look on her face. I finally have a chance to get back at her.
"If that doesn't work out, I can take them back."
"Don't you dare Steve!"
And then the food comes. We laugh and talk and eat and I wish I could see her face, her real face because I think it's a thousand times more beautiful than the face she's using right now.
"You and your comedy shows. I still can't believe you wrote a computer program just to automatically download podcasts of your favourite radio shows. Whatever podcasts are."
"Do not mock I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue! It is the epitome of punning. And I must say, Jeremy Hardy's singing does qualify for an award as I swear I've never heard as bad a singer! Except from Tora, but she doesn't count."
"I don't get Mornington Crescent! The rules sound horribly complicated."
"Steve, the rules are meant to sound complicated. That's part of the joke."
I shrug. I have never seen as much chaos as when she persuaded the X-Men to play 'One Song To The Tune Of Another'. Beast has a good voice apparently. Tora rivalled the esteemed Mr Hardy although she was a lot less good-natured about it. Seemingly the laughing got a little too much for her and she attacked the pianist for messing around with the tune of the original song. Things went to a head when someone challenged Cyclops to sing 'Killer Queen' to the tune of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkryies'. Etana has been banned from playing anymore Clue games by Professor X. They still won't talk about what happened to the TV. We finish and settle the bill before leaving.
"We still have an hour before the show starts. What do you want to do?"
"I was going to suggest a Goodies marathon but my sides can't take so much laughter. How about we go for a walk?"
I nod and we end up in Central Park, with ice-creams that she insisted on paying for, on account of 'I'm richer than Tony Stark, despite giving away 10% of my net worth every year'. Don't ask. It's getting dark but 'Tana is just smiling slightly and gazing across the bridge.
"Are you okay?"
She shrugs.
"My life had always been…structured. I had a timeline to keep on course, people to save, places to go. And now…now I'm free! No more burden about saving lives because I have to. Now I can save lives because I want to. I have a whole blank canvas spread out in front of me. I… I could be anyone, do anything."
She smiles an odd smile and whispers so quietly I almost can't hear her.
"…Love anyone."
And I pull her in for a hug. My Shadow, my 'Tana who I lo… What the…
