Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.
~Chapter 11~
Congratulations and Tony's Party
"Yes!"
Maria smiled widely as she sat in the car, her and her fiancé on their way back to the Avenger's Tower. Her eyes were fixed on the silver ring wrapped around her finger, her heart still doing somersaults at the mere thought of what had happened. She was engaged. Something she never thought would happen in her entire life. Not after all the bad luck she'd had when it came to love - her mother - Artur.
Of course there were questions running through her mind; doubts. Though she ignored them, the happiness of this was too good for her to want to ruin it with annoying thoughts of doubt that would bring her mood down. She was with Steve now, bound to him and it felt amazing. And although there were uncertainties, there was one thing Maria knew for certain, she liked the ocean again. Not enough to feel free to swim in it, but at least try to dip her feet in it if she ever got the chance.
The ring itself resembled (apart from Steve and Maria's unbreakable love for each other) a leaf tied around her finger, wrapping itself together at the top to hold a little white diamond in place. Of course, said leaves were pure silver, small cuttings in the metal making it indeed look like leaves.
Steve's hand was suddenly placed on Maria's hands, his fingers feeling the ring around her finger and a smile appeared on his lips while his eyes stayed on the road.
"You have no idea how nervous I was-"
"Oh my God," said Maria quietly, causing Steve to glance at her quickly. "This is what you wanted to ask me yesterday, wasn't it?"
Her question was confirmed by an evident blush that appeared on Steve's cheeks, a smile growing on Maria's lips; "How long have you been carrying this around?"
"A-A while," replied Steve. "I was trying to find the perfect moment to ask you."
"Steve, any moment spent with you is perfect," said Maria, lifting his hand to her lips and kissing it.
Steve chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road while he gently stroked Maria's cheek once before retrieving his hand and focusing on driving.
"You know… I'm really happy this happened," said Maria, her smile suddenly fading slightly. "Mostly because this is with you and I'm finally finding something in my life that is permanent and good."
"You'd already found something permanent and good. The Avengers," added Steve. "We won't break up. We're like a family every one of us."
"We are," she said, a faint hint of a smile appearing on her lips again as she thought about it. "But I can't deny the fact that I'm mostly happy this happened because I won't have to live much longer with my father's name."
A silence followed after she had said this which didn't really surprise her all that much seeing as this probably shocked Steve a little. Though she had been wrong.
"I understand," he said, earning a look from Maria. "After what he has done, doing human tests on people, trying to clone you into being the 'perfect daughter', I completely understand. Not to mention that he's now managed to help create enhanced that are probably not all too friendly towards us."
"And he left me with mum," said Maria, venom dripping from her words as she mentioned her mother.
"Yes… yes, he did," replied Steve sadly. "You don't talk about her a lot."
"Believe me, Steve, that when I say that you know enough just knowing she was a bad mother, you know enough. You don't want to know half the things she's put me through as a child," said Maria angrily before taking a deep breath, calming herself down. "Sorry… It just angers me a bit nowadays. It used to hurt, but I think I'm over the pain now."
"I know you don't want to… But, whatever it is she did, you can tell me," said Steve. "Especially now."
"Thank you," said Maria quietly. "For understanding."
"Honestly, I'm just glad you're liking the name Rogers," said Steve, smiling over at her.
"Maria Rogers…" said Maria, trying it out and earning a wide, almost proud, smile from Steve. "Yeah, I like it."
The next day came fast. After all the excitement from the proposal, both Steve and Maria went straight to bed, not even announcing the proposal to the others seeing as it was too late to wake them up and they were both exhausted. Maria had fallen asleep in Steve's arms and this time, she awoke when Steve was trying to climb out of bed.
"Sorry," he said, lying back down, Maria immediately shifting back into his warm embrace, earning a chuckle from Steve which vibrated through his chest against Maria's cheek. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"What time is it?" asked Maria groggily.
"Half past nine," replied Steve. "I stayed in bed for a couple of hours, not wanting to leave my soon-to-be wife."
Maria smiled widely at his words, opening her eyes and looking up at him, placing a hand against his cheek. "Well, soon-to-be husband, I don't want you to leave me just yet. It's going to be a long day, what with the party and all."
"True," he replied, embracing Maria a little closer at the thought. "I think Sam will come."
"That's nice," replied Maria. "I haven't seen him in a while… Do you – Do you think he's found any leads on Bucky?"
A sigh escaped Steve's lips, a worried look flashed over his face at the mention of his friend's name, "I don't know. I did ask him to try and find something out. But if Bucky's left the states…"
"It'll be hard to find him," finished Maria. "At least for someone who isn't officially a part of the Avengers and who can't use the technology we have."
"Exactly," said Steve. "Besides, I think I'm going to put it to rest for a while. Like you said, if he wants to be found, he will be found. And, I have more important things to take care of at the moment."
"Wow," said Maria sarcastically, knowing full and well what he was talking about once she saw the cheeky smile on Steve's lips. "More important than your bae?"
"My what?" asked Steve, raising an eyebrow in utter confusion.
"Your bae," replied Maria between giggles. "Before – anyone – else."
"Oh…" replied Steve a little uncertain before he smirked. "Not before you."
Earning a giggle from Maria, Steve leaned down and kissed the spot he knew she was ticklish at on her neck, making her roll away from him.
"My weakness!" she exclaimed, earning laughter from Steve.
Loud congratulations were exchanged to the pair the moment they entered the kitchen. Both Steve and Maria blushed a deep, red color, listening to all the congrats and the multiple questions that were thrown at them.
"How did he ask you?"
"Congratulations!"
"I knew he'd do it tonight!"
"Great job, Rogers."
"Congratulations!"
"What does this ring do? Will it keep all other men away?"
"Congratulations!"
After answering all questions that were thrown at them and thanking every single Avenger, who all had been waiting for them in the kitchen after Jarvis had told them all that morning the news he had found out, Steve and Maria found themselves around the kitchen table with all the Avengers watching them eat breakfast.
Maria was having a little difficulty doing so, as Natasha was sitting next to her, holding her hand in hers and examining the ring in all angles one could possible come up with. There was a smile on her face as she did this, though, so Maria figured the assassin was simply happy for her.
"Told you the beach would work," said Clint, winking at Steve.
"You're kidding me, right?" asked Maria, turning her head to look at Steve. "You told me the two of you had been talking about the weather!"
"The weather?" laughed Clint. "Not so good under pressure, right?"
"It was only half a lie," replied Steve with a shrug.
"Is no one going to address the fact that the man with no girlfriend is the one who helped Spangles with the proposal?" said Tony.
"He watches a lot of romantic movies," said Steve before Clint could defend himself, a pink color appearing on Clint's cheeks and ears.
"Now, hold on-"
"I'm never letting that one go," said Tony, laughing loudly from where he was seated, a PAD in his hands and his feet propped up on the table.
"Tony helped me find the ring," replied Steve, earning a gasp from Maria.
"Really?" she asked. "Why wasn't I there! Let me guess, people thought you two were shopping for rings for each other, right?"
"Actually-" replied Steve with a smirk on his face as the same, pink color appeared on Tony's cheeks, Clint being the one to laugh this time.
"There's no point in going there now, Rogers," said Tony hastily, burying his nose in his PAD again before anyone could say anything else on the matter.
"It's a beautiful ring," said Natasha, finally letting go of Maria's hand. "I would take care of it, a lot of people will want the money it's worth."
"I'm never going to take it off," said Maria, ignoring the money part as it didn't matter to her what it had cost and neither did she want to know.
"We should be going now, Tony. The – uh – tests aren't going to make themselves and we can't waste our last couple of hours in the kitchen," said Bruce, standing up from his seat, Tony mirroring his actions.
"True. The tests are going to need our… surveillance," said Tony before the two of them hurried off.
There was an eerie silence after they had left in which everyone simply looked at the door through which the two scientists had left.
"Sometimes… I get the feeling they're hiding something from us," said Clint, earning a hum of agreeance from Maria.
"But our new policy goes against that, right?" asked Maria.
"Yeah… But this is Tony we're talking about," said Natasha.
"I'm sure it's nothing," said Steve finally, the Avengers turning away from the door again.
The speaker's base could be heard through the walls of all the upper floors of the Avenger's Tower. The party had most certainly already started. Maria was just putting the finishing touch to her lipstick when the bathroom door was opened, Steve walking inside, buttoning up his shirt. His confident steps faltered slightly as his gaze landed on Maria, causing her to smile slightly.
"I know, I don't usually wear lipstick," said Maria, glancing back at her reflection to see if she looked presentable or not. "Figured it was the occasion for it."
Her lips were colored a dark, prune color, resembling much her suit's faint color which one could see only in the sunlight (since it otherwise looked black), though the lipstick was a shade or two lighter. Her dress was the same, prune-purple color, reaching just below her knees while she wore a pair of high heels she got to borrow from Natasha, the assassin having enough high heels to spare one pair for Maria. Her hair was curled into wavy curls reaching just below her shoulders, one side of her hair pinned up to keep it away from her face.
"You… look amazing," breathed Steve, placing a hand around her waist and gently kissing her cheek. "You're going to blow everyone away with your beauty tonight."
"Stop it," said Maria, waving his words off before turning to Steve, buttoning up the remaining buttons of his shirt before running a hand through his newly brushed hair, enjoying it better when it was a little ruffled. "You look handsome too… Not that you always do."
Steve smirked before gesturing to the door. "We should go. The party's already started and Tony will be offended if we're not there in time."
And with that said, the two of them left, hand in hand. Steve's finger kept brushing over the engagement ring on Maria's finger as they walked, making her smile widely as she was remembered of the fact that she was soon going to be called Rogers instead of Dalton.
Indeed, a lot of people had already arrived at the party. As Tony had explained to Maria the day before, the room was, to the left, a large dancefloor where people already were dancing, drinks in their hands. To the right, the bar still existed and here and there around the room, there were little islands of sofas and couches where people could sit and mingle, just like Maria had suggested to Tony.
"This is going to be a long night," said Steve from next to her as they made their way down the stairs.
"Yup," she replied simply before they entered the crowd.
Compared to other house-parties Tony had hosted, this wasn't as crazy or crowded as those. There was room to walk freely without elbowing other people and the music wasn't as loud as Maria had feared it would be. Then again, the people that had accepted their invitations weren't party people. They were doctors, scientists or other heroes of New York. Maria even saw a group of elderly sitting by the bar which most certainly weren't the usual party guests of Tony. Though, this wasn't the usual Tony either.
Although it wasn't something Maria had thought about earlier, it showed up in the way the party had been organized. Their very first mission together had truly affected Tony a great deal. He had matured (albeit Pepper had a lot to do with that too) and seemed less impulsive than he used to be. He had told Maria about what had happened to him during the time she had been away from him; about the Mandarin and about how Tony had decided to start and try to live life more as Tony Stark and less as Iron Man. Meaning, at some point, he'd never wear the suit again.
As Maria danced with Natasha, a drink in both of their hands, she thought swiftly about that idea of Tony's; to never wear the suit again. Seeing as Maria had only recently started to wear a suit officially, being a hero on full-time instead of just during the night alongside of Matt, she hadn't ever thought about it. The life-style hadn't worn her out yet even after the things she had been through. And seeing as children wasn't going to be something that would come in the way of Steve and Maria; would they ever find a reason to stop? Steve aged slowly, thanks to the serum. And Maria - well she didn't know yet. Her powers could make her age slower too, which would be very convenient since she would otherwise look much older than Steve after a while.
"Hey! Earth to Maria!" said Natasha over the music.
"Oh, sorry," mumbled Maria, taking another sip from her drink. "I was deep in thoughts."
"I noticed," said Natasha, raising an eyebrow. "You stopped dancing."
"Sorry," said Maria again, furrowing her brow. "Look, do you mind if we take a break?"
"Not at all," said Natasha, following her away from the dance-floor. "Where's Steve?"
"He met up with Sam," said Maria as they reached the bar, the two women leaning against the counter, ordering themselves another pair of drinks. "They needed to talk."
"About Bucky?" asked Natasha, earning a look from Maria. She hadn't been there when Steve had told Sam and Maria he wanted to find the Winter Soldier. "I notice things."
"Well, I don't know," replied Maria. "Probably."
"Sorry," mumbled a voice from beside Maria as a woman pushed up against the counter, quickly ordering a pair of drinks for her and a friend.
"No worries," replied Maria hastily before turning back to Natasha.
"You are Maria Dalton?" asked the woman, causing Maria to turn back to her.
"Yeah… Who are you?"
"I'm doctor Helen Cho," said the woman, turning fully to Maria and ignoring the drinks which the bartender placed in front of her. "I was the one who healed your friend, agent Barton."
"Ah," replied Maria, shaking the outstretched hand of the doctor. "Nice to meet you. Sorry I didn't come to say hello earlier, I was busy with… other stuff like -"
"Getting engaged, I heard," said doctor Cho, smirking as she briefly glanced down at the ring on Maria's hand.
"Uh, yes," smiled Maria.
"If you wouldn't mind," started doctor Cho. "I would be very interested in taking a few tests of your abilities. After all, you have a healing ability which I, in a way, am trying to remake with the help of machines."
"Oh…" said Maria, an uncomfortable feeling entering the pit of her stomach. "I – uh – wouldn't mind. Thor and I are going to train tomorrow… Maybe tomorrow evening? If you're still here then?"
"Of course," said doctor Cho. "I will meet you then."
With that said, the doctor grabbed the two drinks and left Natasha and Maria alone by the bar again.
"Her work is quite amazing. You can't tell the synthetic skin from the real," said Natasha.
"Yeah… I'm sure… You know, for once, I would prefer people to know me for my good deeds, not my criminal past or my healing ability," muttered Maria before sighing. "But I suppose these tests can help save people's lives…"
Natasha hummed a yes before nodding over towards the back of the room, making Maria turn her head. "I spot Steve and Sam."
Indeed, Natasha had found them. The two men were casually playing pool, smiling and laughing.
"Go," said Natasha. "I'll manage. Besides, I gotta find Bruce."
Maria smirked, earning a smirk back from Natasha, knowing she had been indicating on the fact that Natasha had been very interested in Bruce lately, not being shy about it either. As Maria walked towards the pool table, she couldn't help but find it a little cute that Bruce had gained Natasha's attention.
"Hey," said Sam, being the first to see her as she reached them, leaning against the back of a chair that had been placed near the pool table, smiling at the two men. "I never congratulated you, M."
"Did you just call me M?" asked Maria.
"Yup," replied Sam before giving her a hug. "Congrats."
"Thanks," chuckled Maria. "So, who's winning?"
"Actually, me," beamed Sam. "He said you can't beat a man in pool if he's from the 1940's. Well, I'm proving him wrong. And, I'm getting ten dollars richer in doing so."
"Well, you haven't won yet," said Steve.
"No, but I'm not going to lose either," replied Sam, pointing a finger at Steve before focusing entirely on the pool table, trying to find the best angle to go at next.
Steve walked over to Maria as Sam focused, placing an arm around her and pressing a soft kiss to her temple. She leaned in against him, smiling softly.
"You're letting him win, right?" asked Maria quietly.
"Yeah, I am."