You know that feeling you get when you get all stirred up and excited after watching a movie? Watching Chris Evans in full Captain America uniform and kicking butt is the best way to start my writing! Hopefully it will keep me going until I finish!
On another note, I think you all have missed Derek who has been in and out of this story. Well, he's baaaaaaaaaaack!
Chapter Forty-Three
Another morning had come and gone at school without any meaningful activity; another boring lecture from Carlyle, another doodle in my notebook of him boring me to death. My gravestone was planted in the chair, the epitaph reading: Died of Boredom. And there was Carlyle, still teaching at the front. I was quite proud of myself when I looked at the finished product. Not too shabby if I don't say so myself. I had decided to stop by the school snack area, hanging out there until Steve came to give me a ride home.
"Nice drawing." I turned toward Derek's familiar voice and I saw him standing in front of me. I had barely noticed him amidst my childish antics.
"I haven't seen you in a while." I commented nonchalantly, trying not giving any inkling of the depression I had felt when he hadn't showed up for class for the past month. I was dying to tell him that I was dating my best friend, but I had given up hope after two weeks, thinking he was never coming back. It was too bad, too, because Derek was a good friend to be around. I would have called him to see how he was doing, but I didn't have his number.
"My grandmother got sick."
"You didn't tell me you had a grandmother."
"She's eighty-six. She's the best Grammy in the world."
"Grammy?" I laughed at the nickname and his cheeks flushed a crimson red.
"It's hard to call her anything else after twenty-two years."
"Agreed." I replied, stuffing the doodle away in my backpack to show my uncle later tonight at dinner.
He smoothly slid into the seat opposite me, leaning against the back of the booth with ease.
"How's Carlyle? Did he miss me?" He raised an eyebrow with a childish grin.
"Oh, of course. He was making up a "We Miss You" card and he was going to have us sign it. But, since you're back, I think he'll just save it for the next absentee kid."
His grin grew wider, revealing a wide display of his white teeth as the sarcasm sunk in.
"I'm sorry I left without notice. It...was very sudden."
I understood that. I hadn't exactly had the best notice of leaving when Dad died. Within less than twelve hours, I had had to leave for New York City to live with my aunt and uncle. I could hardly blame Derek for not stopping to tell me.
"Is your grandmother alright?"
His face grimaced.
"I made a mistake when I said she's the best Grammy in the world." He leaned over, twiddling his thumbs on the red, plastic counter-top uncomfortably. "She was the best."
I couldn't stop myself from placing my hand on his then, his face now bent away from me. He was keeping himself from crying, I knew. His body was tense, fighting what was welling up inside of him. It brought me back to when Mom died; those nights trying to be strong for my Dad, hiding away until he found me crying in the bathroom at one in the morning. And then when he died, I could remember my uncle comforting me on the fire escape of the apartment, telling me everything was going to be alright. I didn't believe him then. And remembering that pain, I could easily surmise Derek's suffering.
"I'm sorry." I whispered. He lifted his head up at me, swallowing his emotions down hard. His hand gripped mine as if he were holding on to a lifeline.
"No one's ever been there for me like she was...or you." He mumbled that last part, probably not meaning for it to reach my ears. I decided to ignore it, dismissing it as nothing.
"I'll pray for you." I gave him a half smile which he kindly returned. I could tell it gave him some sort of solace to know that someone was thinking about him because the tension immediately started to ease, little by little.
He was quiet for several moments, his phone lying on the table as it buzzed at least four times. He didn't notice, his thumbs twiddling restlessly again on the counter. After some uncomfortable silence, he started,
"So...I was wondering...do you think you'd be able to leave and get some coffee tonight? I could use some help catching up in class."
I knew there was no way I could have coffee with him. I already had a date with Steve tonight. And Derek had no idea we were dating. Not like he would know, of course, since he had been gone.
"I can't. I've got a date tonight."
His eyes widened in surprise.
"Really? Who with?"
"A good friend of mine."
As if on cue, Steve's appeared through the window of the snack center, his Harley rumbling down the busy college street and parking in his usual waiting spot. I smiled at him and Derek grinned at me.
"Oh, I see. Looks like you two are a little more than study buddies." I imagine that my cheeks flushed pink in that moment, but Derek didn't seem too surprised. He had probably sensed the relationship between us before we even knew it. Practically everyone who knew us did, apparently. It was just a matter of time, one ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had remarked on a passing visit a couple of days ago before returning to her new job at the C.I.A. I believe her first name was Sharon.
"I've got to go. See you in class Monday?" I swung the backpack over my shoulders, looking at Derek one last time.
"Yep. Have fun on your date!" He waved, his troubles forgotten, at least for the moment, and Steve and I sped off towards home.
Two Days Later...
It felt awkward sitting in a doctor's office. It reminded me of the last time I had been in a hospital and almost died. The room reeked of antiseptic and it made me nauseous.
Calm down. You're just watching Pepper's ultrasound, remember?
Tony was out on business and couldn't be there for the next update on the baby's progress. Pepper had really wanted someone there, so Aunt Nat and I had joined her. The only other ultrasounds I had ever witnessed was with Aunt Nat and Uncle Clint when they were expecting the twins, and I was eager to see another one.
"Thank you so much for coming with me." Pepper had been so nervous about her pregnancy. Apparently her family hadn't had the best of circumstances with carrying children, making her extremely nervous.
"We're happy to be here." I replied. "I just wish Tony could have, too."
Pepper got a little teary-eyed, a sure sign of overactive hormones. She had been a little more emotional of late; crying at the sight of a dead squirrel lying on the side of the road or over-stressing about work. Believe me, it was sad to watch Pepper, the usually calm one, bawl her head off over a pathetic dead squirrel. A few people had started staring at us and Aunt Nat and I had had to rush her off into a store to get her calmed down.
I had left Steve that morning, also hoping to find a dress for the party coming in two weeks. I had cut the dress shopping close, but it was better than my usual tendency to procrastinate.
"I'm sure you'll look beautiful in whatever you find." Steve told me before I left that morning. He was going to go with the boys and get fitted for a tux that day as well.
"And just think, you'll look so adorable in that little bow tie." He had been anything but amused.
"I don't think adorable is quite the word, dear."
I imagined blissfully of dancing the night away with him in a beautiful flowing dress and him in his handsome black tux and little bow tie. Then I remembered, I couldn't dance to save my life. I prayed that he had learned something about dancing in the past few years since he'd been defrosted.
"Miss Potts?" One of the nurses asked from the doorway. She wore scrubs with brown kittens and yellow flowers, and had a hair-do that made her look about ten years older than what she probably was. We followed her into one of the back rooms where Pepper laid down on the bed.
"It's been a while since I've been here." Aunt Nat commented, looking around the room as the nurse checked Pepper's blood pressure.
"Hopefully you won't be here for a while." I replied. "The twins are already a handful."
"Believe me, it's going to be a long time before we even consider more children, if at all."
Aunt Nat and Uncle Clint never talked about how big a family they wanted. The twins just happened. And not that I didn't love them, but another Barton or two in the mix might kill us.
And literally, they might.
"All done." The nurse unstrapped the blood pressure monitor and went off to find the doctor.
"They don't decide the sex until next visit, right?" Her belly was protruding out slightly, making me wonder how far along the baby was.
Pepper's lips quickly formed into a frown.
"No. It's this one." Her eyes started to get misty, the stark realization of her boyfriend's absence sending her into a hormonal tidal wave. "And Tony's not here."
We quickly surrounded her, holding her hand and trying to soothe her. But we were no match for raging hormones and disappointment.
"He's not here." She sobbed. "He's not here to find out the sex of our baby."
"It's alright. We can Skype him, if you want." Aunt Nat replied and I immediately whipped out my phone. It didn't take Tony long to pick up.
"What's up, kid?" He faced me through the screen and I immediately directed the phone to the hysterical soon-to-be-mother of his child.
"Tony." Pepper sniffed, trying to dab at her smeared makeup with a Kleenex.
"Pepper, what's wrong?" For once, Tony sounded absolutely terrified. "Is it the baby? Are you alright?"
"We find out the sex of the baby today...and you're not here!" Pepper started bawling again and we had to swipe another Kleenex from the box.
"Honey, I'm right here. I won't leave until we find out the sex of our baby."
"You're in the middle of a meeting." She replied. "You can't do that."
Tony chuckled.
"I'm the boss, remember?"
At that moment, the doctor came in, finding a bawling pregnant woman, two flustered friends and a man desperate to keep his emotionally-distraught girlfriend happy over the line.
"Am I...do I need to leave?"
"No!" Everyone shouted.
"I mean," Pepper began, resuming her normally calm demeanor, "Dr. Weber, can we please continue?"
The Dr. Weber gave a curt nod and before applying the gel to Pepper's belly. We all watched in fascination as the ultrasound began, a tiny body appearing on the screen.
"Are you seeing this, Tony?" I asked him.
"Yep." He replied. "Looks good, Pep!"
She smiled as she turned back to the screen.
"Now, if I'm not correct...yes!" Dr. Weber exclaimed with a big grin. "Today's the day we find out the sex of your baby!"
She examined the little life form closely before finally turning back to the happy couple.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes." Pepper and Tony replied simultaneously, the excitement evident in their voices.
This was it. Tony Jr. or Tonyetta. What would it be? I leaned in with anticipation.
"It's a boy."
"YES!" Tony yelled across the line in exultation. "It's a boy! It's a boy!"
Pepper beamed
"My baby boy." I heard her whisper.
Later That Day...
"No pink!" I shouted over the dressing room door. "You've already had the satisfaction of making me wear that dreadful color on my first date. I'm not doing that again."
Aunt Nat had tried repeatedly to shove that hideous color somehow into the dressing room in every way imaginable. She was probably praying that I would put it on without noticing.
"Just once? For me?" She pleaded through the wooden door.
"No." I replied firmly. "I'd rather wear a Barney costume than this."
She sighed on the other end of the door.
"Fine. Just open up and hand it to me."
Maybe she has finally accepted that I won't wear pink to...
My thoughts were immediately drowned out by being knocked backwards into the dressing room. I don't really remember much after that, except for a lot of shoving, the sound of a small zip and the word 'done.' I emerged out of the dressing room in a daze, Aunt Nat half dragging me out.
"You know, I'm pretty sure this isn't how you help someone find a dress for a party." I finally managed to speak as she pulled me to a mirror.
"It is for me."
Somehow, that wasn't a surprise.
"But look at yourself in the mirror." I casually glanced over in the mirror, expecting to make a mad dash to the dressing room until I had another dress with a decent color on. But I stopped as I looked in the mirror. That couldn't be me in there. I looked awful in pink.
But it was me. And I had on the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen; Simple, elegant and a shade of pink that complimented my skin tone.
"I...I don't know what to say."
"You look beautiful." Pepper gasped as she looked at my reflection.
And I believed her.
Steve's P.O.V.
I looked ridiculous. It wasn't so much the suit or the tight shoes, but the bow tie. It reminded me of the awkward kid I had been in 1941, trying to ask a girl to dance with me at one of the clubs Bucky had dragged me to. Believe me, it was painful to remember all the turn downs by the girls who, at the next moment, would start dancing with someone else.
"Looks good, Cap." Bruce stepped beside me in front of the humongous mirror. He fiddled with his bow tie some more, a sure sign that it was making him just as uncomfortable.
"Really? Because I think I look ridiculous." I went ahead and said it. I didn't want to wear this in front of Hannah, feeling like that awkward kid again. It made me scared that she'd turn me down when she saw how goofy I looked compared to her in a beautiful dress. I tried to swallow that feeling down hard, but even being Captain America, it was hard to resist old insecurities.
"I know." Bruce muttered. "I guess we'll just have to endure."
"Why do they not have suits made for someone my size?" Thor exclaimed, walking out in a suit that was about to burst at the seams, his arms bulging out of the jacket and the pants too small, revealing his ankles. I wanted to laugh, but I kept my trap shut. Making Thor mad was not one of the wisest ideas.
"We'll get it fixed." Bruce assured him. "A custom-made suit will work just fine."
"I would have thought my Asgardian wardrobe would have been proper." He remarked. "They're clothes of royalty, you know."
Somehow, I didn't think the red cape would fit in well with all the black and white suits at the party.
"Darn blast this thing!" Thor cried, ripping off the bow tie in anguish.
Clint suddenly stepped out, fitted and ready to go. He held on to the ends of his suit jacket, appraising himself in the mirror.
"Not bad." He said as he indulged in himself in a bit of vanity. It made me want to roll my eyes, but I dared not in front of my girlfriend's uncle/father figure. He glanced in our direction. "The bow ties look good on you guys."
Liar, I wanted to say sarcastically, but I bit my tongue. He seemed to mean it. He had been trying the last month to adjust to this dating situation and I could feel the tension start to ease between us bit by bit.
"And Thor, you look...good." Clint lied and Thor gave him a look that clearly questioned the archer's eyesight.
"So, the girl's are dress shopping?" Bruce changed the subject after we had changed back into our normal attire.
"Yep. And it looks like Hannah just found her dress." Clint replied, looking at his phone.
I imagined Hannah in a dress. I knew that she wanted something dark, like blue or purple, but she absolutely glowed in pink. The thought of her walking towards me on the dance floor, a pink dress sashaying as she swung her hips back and forth, it left me breathless. She'd rest her hand on my shoulder and I'd wrap my arms around her, looking into her beautiful eyes.
It was about half past three when we left, the car ride full of the general guy talk. Thor remarked on how Jane would be back from her work for that night, and Bruce mentioned Betty coming, a long-time love of his. He didn't talk about her excessively, but I could see his eyes light up behind his glasses when he spoke of her.
As we all filed out of the car when we reached the garage, Clint stopped me from the driver's seat.
"Steve," He motioned me back in the car. I tentatively sat down on the passenger side, watching him closely.
"Look, I don't know how else to say it, but I just will." He spoke quickly, like he was ripping off a band-aid. "I'm sorry for being hard on you for the past month. I've been a jerk." He looked at me, his archer eyes intently focused on me. "I just wanted Hannah to be in good hands. And I realize that there's no better hands for her to be in that yours."
I sucked in a breath, realizing the amount of humility it must have taken for him to say something like that.
"Clint, she's practically your daughter. It's fine that you were over-protective. You're her dad."
"I've seen her, you know, when she looks at you." His eyes moved ahead of him, his mind far off. "I've never seen her so happy in the time Nat and I have had her."
"I would never let anything happen to her."
"I know." He replied. "I just didn't want my girl getting hurt."
I nodded, silently agreeing.
"I just wanted to let you know that I trust you." He turned back to me, eyes sincere. "Nat and I both trust you."
I clapped my hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks." His words meaning more to me than he knew. It felt like I had my friend back.
"So, do you want to ambush Stark when he comes back from his meeting?" He grinned, looking over to a very excited Bruce and Thor armed with water guns and water balloons. The thought of taking down Stark brought me absolute pleasure.
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
Somewhere Else...
"Sir, I've got the information you wanted." A file and jump drive were placed on a desk, the person behind it, the man's leader by the look of it, quickly grabbing it and plugging the jump drive into his computer. The leader's commanding presence was enough to make the man in front of him inwardly squirm as he waited upon his next orders.
"You can go now." His leader said from behind the desk and the man scurried off, glad to be out of his presence.
Meanwhile, the leader was typing furiously, pulling up the images of some people he very desperately wanted to meet. The pictures only made him more impatient as he saw them walking into Avengers Tower. But he knew it was only a little longer now. And then, he'd get to meet them face to face.
What did you all think? I know it had a lot of scenes, but it was a way of tying several things together. Don't worry. The story's about to get better!