"I've decided that I don't want to grow up..."
En route to visit Peggy. Day. Steve
Steve pulled up outside of the building that he had visited many times. He climbed off of his motorbike and took a long look at the outside of the structure. It was a large, brick-made building with a beautiful garden in the front yard which traveled towards the back. He sighed happily before climbing the steps that led to the front door.
Entering the building, he made his way towards the room that he knew belonged to Peggy. Steve knocked lightly on the thick wooden door, waiting for a few seconds before a faint voice sounded.
"Come in."
He slowly opened the door and saw Peggy Carter led in her bed, looking tired. She looked much the same as the last time he visited her. Her hair grey hair was short and curled and she wore a white nightdress. He smiled down at the elderly woman.
"Steve," Peggy greeted softly in her, still prominent, British accent. He was briefly reminded of Daphne's slight English intonation.
"Hey Peg. How have you been?"
He sat down in the chair that was next to her bed and grabbed hold of her wrinkled hand, giving it a quick squeeze.
"Ah, I've had my good and bad days," she rasped out. "I heard about that alien army incident. Are you okay?" She had a look of concern on her face.
He chuckled quietly. "I'm fine, Peg. Super-soldier, remember?" He said, pointing to himself as the words left his mouth.
Peggy gave him a knowing look. "Physically, I know you're fine. But I meant emotionally."
Steve sighed. "It was hard," he began, internally shuddering as he remembered his gripping fear when he saw that building fall onto a certain female mutant. "But we got through it. I'm fine, physically and emotionally."
She gave him a small smile which he returned happily. They both spent hours talking about everything that had happened during the time they hadn't seen each other. Peggy had told him more about her family and he had listened with a content smile on his face, watching as her eyes lit up during the conversation. He was suddenly reminded of Daphne and the way her eyes did the same when she was speaking of something passionately.
"Who is she?" Peggy's soft voice brought him back to reality.
"Who?" He asked, confused at the question.
"The girl that's making you smile like that," she elaborated with an affectionate chuckle.
Steve wasn't even aware that he was smiling, or that his distraction was so noticeable. He stuttered slightly, not knowing what to say as he saw Peggy's grin widen.
"Daphne," he managed to get out.
"I like that name," she complimented. "Where did you meet her?"
"During the battle with Loki. She's a part of the Avengers."
The elderly woman's eyes widened noticeably. "Is she the one that had that building fall on her?" She asked in bewilderment.
"Yeah. How did you know that?" He questioned with a befuddled expression.
"It was on the news. Everybody here assumed she had died."
Steve laughed, shaking his head. "She's too persistent to die. She'd most likely argue with the Grim Reaper until he brought her back to life."
Peggy joined in with the laughter. "I'd like to meet her one day."
"I think she'd like that," he informed her.
She paused for a moment, staring at Steve like she could look into his soul. It unnerved him, making him want to know what she was thinking.
"She seems good for you," she told him, smirking in an all-knowing way.
He didn't know what he was expecting, but that wasn't it. "What do you mean?"
"Your eyes light up when you speak of her. It seems that she's got you wrapped around her finger," Peggy chuckled. "If that's not a sign then I don't know what is."
He thought about her words. It was true that he was happier when he was with the mutant woman, he could joke with her like he couldn't with others. She was beautiful, yet it seemed that she didn't realise it and they fought together, as a unit, during the battle of New York, looking out and protecting each other. Steve was genuinely confused of what his feelings were towards the female though.
"Nothing's going on between us," he said, trying to make that clear though, to his surprise, he felt a little downhearted by the thought.
"We'll see," she replied. Her eyes had a mischievous glint in them, making Steve wonder what was going on in her head.
The pair went back to talking about normal, mundane subjects. In the back of Steve's mind, however, he was still running over the conversation they had previously, wondering if what Peggy said might be true.
Stark Tower. Day. Daphne
*1 week after the battle of New York*
"For a billionaire, you're really not good at entertainment," Daphne was complaining as she lounged about on one of the main living rooms' sofas. She stretched out as far as she could fit, led in the shape of a starfish, an arm dangling off the edge of the cream sofa.
It had only been about a week since the very tiring and draining battle against the crazy aliens, but Daphne had fit in well inside the Tower. Her and Tony had been relentless in the teasing but there's only so much a person can do before the inevitable boredom sets in.
"Why don't you turn into a kitten for me?" He Tony pleaded from the opposite couch, tinkering with a small device.
She managed to stifle a groan of annoyance. Daphne had been successful in avoiding that subject for the majority of her time with the former, self-proclaimed 'playboy', but he was utterly set on having her shift for him.
She just glared at him, signalling to him that she wasn't going to bow down to his wants.
"Go do something," he told to her, apparently tired of her whining.
"But that's the problem... There's nothing to do!"
The genius started mumbling something about 'Captain', snorting with laughter after saying it. Daphne frowned in confusion and annoyance, not hearing what he said. Though, knowing Tony, it was probably something inappropriate and/or suggestive.
"What?" She demanded in a threatening voice.
"Nothing, dear," he sighed, sounding like a domestic husband.
She couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped her lips after the comment, giggling harder once she saw the withering look he gave her.
He opened his mouth to say something when Pepper conveniently walked into the room. She glanced at the pair in front of her with her eyebrows raised in a silent question. They both quickly looked away from her probing gaze, pretending that they didn't know she was there. The strawberry blonde sighed and walked over to the sofa that Tony was sat on and joined him.
"JARVIS, please put the TV on," she called out to the bodiless Artificial Intelligence system.
"Of course, Miss Potts."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," JARVIS sounded out. Daphne liked the AI because he had a subtle British accent like her and he had a sense of humour which is surprising for a machine. She figured that Tony must have given him sarcasm.
While Pepper was watching TV, Daphne glanced over at Tony, who was already looking at her, and they both started silently giggling like schoolgirls, trying to be quiet.
Soon though, the snickering got old and she drifted back into a state of boredom. So she resorted to making fun of the news reporters for who-knows how long.
"His nose looks like a potato."
"Why is she wearing that?"
"He needs to get his priorities straight."
"What is with his moustache?"
After about ten minutes of this, Tony seemed about ready to snap, though he looked like he wanted to laugh at some of her comments. "Please, please, please, Kitty. Stop talking."
She groaned out loud, throwing her head back in frustration at the world, missing when Tony and Pepper looked at her in amusement. "Boredom seems to be the general consensus of the day. Why is that?"
"Because life doesn't like you," the billionaire snarked automatically, yelping when Pepper nudged his side with her elbow.
Daphne seemed to ponder that idea for a minute. "Probably. I wouldn't blame it. Where's Bruce?"
"In the lab," Tony answered, without looking at her. "So I wouldn't pester him, if I were you."
She scoffed. "Per-lease. I don't pester people. I illuminate their lives," she boasted, making wild hand gestures to emphasise her point.
Stark looked at her in apprehension. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it," he told her dryly.
The mutant sighed dramatically, letting her eyes flutter close. She allowed her mind to run free, random images of her past and of the present popping into her head. She thought about how much her life had changed over the past week. She had been sat at home, bored out of her mind, went on an awesome adventure, gained some friends and lost one, and now was sat inside Stark Tower, bored out of her mind.
As she thought of her new friends and teammates, her subconscious floated towards a certain blonde, hot super-solider, wondering what he was doing at the moment. Yes, she missed him a lot, probably more than Daphne would like to admit. She missed his sense of humour and the joking around. She missed his level-headed reasoning, though that tended to go out of the window when he was arguing with Tony. She missed that his smile brightened up his whole face. She just missed him. And it's only been a week since she last saw him.
Ugh, I'm turning into a sap. What's next? Poetry?
Just as she was about to get up, she felt something buzzing in the front pocket of her distressed jeans. Daphne quickly slipped her phone out and checked the screen. The contact name of the person calling her was; "One-eyed Wonder", meaning Director Fury.
She exhaled sharply in obvious irritation and pressed the button that would answer the call, putting the device to her ear as she did.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Nicky?" She drawled in greeting.
"Drop the smartass attitude, Collins. You've got a mission."
She blinked in surprise, then processed his words properly and groaned loudly, gaining the attention of Tony and Pepper.
"Come on! I'm on my break! You know, from saving the world and whatnot."
She could hear him scoff over the line. "Well, I guess your break's over then."
That cheeky mother-
"You're horrible, you know that, right?"
"Suck it up. A car will be at Stark Tower shortly to take you to headquarters, so get ready."
"What should I expect from the mission, sir?" She asked, deciding to go into 'serious agent' mode.
"The unexpected," he answered simply, abruptly hanging up the phone afterwards.
"Because that's not vague at all," Daphne muttered sarcastically, shaking her head scornfully at the lack of information Fury had given her. She got up from the sofa, preparing to leave while stuffing her phone back into her pocket.
"Where're you going, Goldie?" Tony asked curiously. She scoffed at the nickname, which obviously referred to the fact that her illusions started with golden wisps.
"To Netherland," she deadpanned. "I've decided that I don't want to grow up. Adults are boring."
"What?" The billionaire questioned in befuddlement.
She raised her eyebrows skeptically, crossing her arms to create the perfect 'what the hell?' look. "Seriously? You've never watched Peter Pan?"
Tony looked around the room as if the answer would magically appear before him. "Should I have?"
The woman could only stare at the genius in pure, unconcealed shock. "When I get back, I'm forcing you to watch it. Got it?"
"Aye aye, Captain," he responded with a mocking salute, Pepper shaking with silent laughter next to him.
Daphne just flipped him off as she turned away from him.
The mutant woman hurriedly made her way to the elevator in the tower, pressing the button that would take her down to her personal floor. Tony had decided to rename 'Stark Tower' to the 'Avengers Tower', mostly due to the fact that all of the letters, except from 'A', had fallen off from the top of the building. He was going to try to contact the rest of the group to see if they wanted to stay with them.
The elevator doors opened on Daphne's floor and she hastened to her little weapons room that she had included on the floor. The room had tables filled with her favourite, translucent blades, their sheaths and her golden whips inside covers. There were a mixture of different guns and knives hanging on the walls, from snipers to machetes, it was all there. She'd have to thank Natasha for her varied range of weaponry.
She rushed to get her white and gold catsuit on, with matching white combat boots, and armed herself with an assortment of weapons. She had two handguns, holstered, on her hips and two of her translucent swords, in sheaths, strapped to her back. Daphne grabbed a few grenades and stuck them on her belt along with two of her whips. Her phone buzzed, showing a text to tell her that a SHIELD vehicle had arrived, and she tied her long, auburn hair back in a high ponytail.
The brunette rode down the elevator to the lobby of the tower and stalked to the entrance, noticing the unmarked SHIELD SUV sitting out front. "So cliché," she grumbled to herself as she climbed into the car, buckling her seat-belt up as the driver maneuvered the car through the maze of streets.
End of this chapter. This was mostly a filler chapter because I had major writers block recently. Hopefully this was okay, I had to keep on rewriting this. Still not very happy with this. Next chapter will have more action in it, I promise.
Thank you to those who have reviewed, followed or favourited either me or this story. You guys are awesome.
I love you all,
-Jess xo