Happy 6th Birthday to this story! We're back with some new chapters, especially after that cliffhanger from last time.
As I'm starting this chapter, I just came from watching Quantumania and I'm tipsy, so that's fun.
And with that, welcome to Season 7.
Chapter 216: Tonight, of All Nights
Xavier and Sigyn's Apartment, Brooklyn - 2:39 AM
His phone rings and he instinctively reaches over to look at it. It's either work or his family at this time and Xavier's not at ease when he sees Angela's name and picture on his screen. He takes a second between answering the call and holding it to his ear, glancing at Sigyn who's nestled on his side with her arm draped over his chest. Her face is buried under the locks of her hair. She hasn't stirred since he picked up the phone and Angela started talking.
Not talking, panicking.
Xavier snaps out of his half-dream state and tries to put together Angela's jumbled words.
"What?" Xavier asks, still getting nothing. He sits up and Sigyn slumps onto the bed, slowly moving now. Her hair falls down and drapes over her face. "Wait, Angela, slow down."
Xavier glances down at Sigyn who brushes some hair out of her face as her eyes flutter open. She puts a hand on his arm and he lowers the phone to put it on speaker. Angela's screams and cries fill the room, waking them both.
Angela: I called his parents and ours but they can't tell me anything and I don't know what to do. They won't let me know anything because I'm just his girlfriend- not even my badge is worth anything-!
"Hey, hey, listen to me," Xavier says firmly, "we'll be there soon. Stay on the line."
He tosses the phone on his bed as he gets up, immediately scrambling through his clothes for a shirt.
"Okay, okay…" Sigyn mutters as she scurries out of bed. She lights up her hand and makes a phone gesture. "Apollo, get your ass to Midgard."
-o-
SHIELD Hospital, Manhattan - 2:46 AM
The moment James opens his eyes, the light nearly blinds him. He has no idea where he is but everything around him is white. Once his eyes settle, it's still white but he can make out the different textures on the ceiling and the light fixtures.
His head pounds as he looks around without moving. His body is still and the sheets are tough. He doesn't have any strength to push himself up and sit. A machine beeps beside him. James' gaze follows the IV connected to the monitor and sees it taped to a needle on his arm and there's another one with a saline bag hanging above him.
Glossy walls, cream-coloured and black-speckled tiles, sterile scent — where is he? Where's Ang-
His eyes dart over to a nurse entering his room. His heart rate jumps on the machine as the nurse walks over and adjusts his saline bag. She looks down at him and smiles softly.
It takes all of the little strength he has even to try and clear his throat.
"Where - where -?"
"Hello, Dr. Pym," the nurse responds, "You're at-"
"No, no…" James mutters slowly. "Where's my fiancée?"
The nurse pauses, looking down at him. She raises a brow. "Dr. Pym, you don't have one. Do you mean-?"
"What- what do you mean?"
His machine beeps louder. The nurse's eyes flicker over to it as energy suddenly jolts in James' body. He sits up, locking eyes with the nurse.
"Where is she?" James asks, voice tense.
He doesn't get a response before he blasts the saline bag. Liquid bursts as James rips the IV out of his arm. He grimaces as he leaps out of bed before something stabs him in the shoulder. James turns around and almost shrinks to fly away before he blacks out.
-o-
She lost track of how long she's been sitting in this uncomfortable plastic cushioned chair in the disinfectant-scented waiting room after the numerous calls she's made. Her eyes have been fixated on a faded magazine on a table in front of her. The words and pictures of D-list celebrities blur together in bait phrases and spray tans with nose jobs and fillers. Who even reads these?
Hank and Janet showed up in a frenzy after she ended the call with Xavier. They flew here, growing back to their normal sizes upon entry in their Ant-Man and Wasp suits as well. Windswept hair, red-rimmed eyes, and sullen and panicked faces as they looked at her for information which she didn't have a lot to provide.
They were allowed inside because they were his parents, but she had to stay outside because she was his girlfriend. It didn't matter that they'd known each other forever cause their birthdays are a mere two weeks apart, and had been dating for nearly a decade. A decade. Ten whole years with that man and she's restricted to the waiting room with the little updates she's getting from his parents because they're so preoccupied with James, as they should be.
Angela's eyes look up and her brows furrow at the sight of Apollo walking in through the opening automatic doors. She watches him look around for a moment before finally meeting her eyes and heading over, sitting next to her.
"Didn't think the night would end here, huh?" Apollo asks.
Angela shakes her head. "Not tonight."
Apollo pats her shoulder before rubbing her back. "How are you doing?"
Angela glances at him. "You're not going to ask about James?"
"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"
She pauses before tears well in her eyes. "… I'm not okay. He told me his knee was hurting since he got the pins but didn't want to worry anyone so he didn't do anything. I should've noticed something."
"Angela, James was trained to hide, right? That's what they teach you in the Academy."
"Well, we also learned how to spot it."
"Maybe he did better in that class."
Angela narrows her eyes at him but grins. "He did, actually. He told me that years of hiding and lying to his parents about things helped. And I get it. If I were in his position, I wouldn't want to be put in that light."
"Yeah…"
"Thanks, by the way. I'm shocked you're here first."
Apollo scoffs, brushing it off. "Oh yeah, no traffic from here to Asgard, both ways."
"Go figure."
"But hey, James will be fine. He has to be. He proposed to you so there's no way he's leaving without putting another ring on you. Congratulations, by the way. Long time coming."
"Wait…" Angela mutters, straightening her back. She thinks that third-to-last sentence repeatedly as she studies Apollo who looks at her blankly. " … back up."
Apollo cocks a brow once he thinks it over. "Oh…"
Angela's heart starts racing as she shakes her head. "Apollo…"
"James told me he would propose to you tonight," he admits. "You know, celebrate his resignation and make this the first step for your lives from now on. He has a ring. He showed me at The Battle on Clint's Lawn. Okay, listen to me. I just shared some classified Guys' Day information, but if James asks you didn't hear it from me. Say Xavier snitched or yet, say it was Daniel and that you heard it from Emily. Or even say it was Blake since he doesn't know the Guys Day rules yet."
As if her night wasn't bad enough. Her heart speeds as tears well in her eyes. Her chest constricts and she doesn't register Apollo reaching out to her and holding her shoulders.
"Wanna know what the ring looks like?" Apollo asks.
Does she?
"Stop talking," Angela mutters.
Apollo nods. "I should have a while ago." He lets go of her and makes a zipper motion across his mouth.
Angela sits back, staring at her shoes as she folds her arms across her chest. This was James' plan all along. No wonder she could hear Janet screaming from down the hall. A mother losing her child after already having lost one at birth now amplified because she definitely thought she would "lose James" to the proposal but now they're in a hospital.
Not to mention she could lose her boyfriend. One of her best friends.
"Oh my god…" Angela whispers. "I can't breathe."
She doesn't know when she started crying. She hasn't cried since she got to the hospital until now.
Angela doesn't know when Xavier and Sigyn but it's comforting to hug her brother and cry on him as Sigyn smacks the back of Apollo's head.
"Hey!" Apollo yells.
"What did you do?" Sigyn asks him.
"I was comforting her," Apollo says as they look at Angela crying on Xavier's shoulder. "I tried my best."
They turn to Hank and Janet as they walk into the waiting room from the hospital wing, looking more put together than when Angela first saw them. Their expressions are solemn so she knows they're not bringing good news. God, he's dead, isn't he? Angela wipes her eyes and rises from her chair, barely able to stand. Her legs shake because she doesn't want to hear the words. If Hank didn't walk over to hug her, she would've collapsed.
Angela doesn't remember the last time Hank hugged her. Maybe it was when they graduated from the Academy or after James' dissertation defence. Before that? Maybe never.
"James woke up for a few seconds," Hank explains once he lets go of Angela, "Jan and I weren't there, but we were told that he was screaming and freaking out so they sedated him."
"What do you mean?" Angela asks.
"He was looking for you. How are you holding up?"
Angela shakes her head, wiping her eyes again. James is the one in the hospital and looking for her. She'd marry him instantly. "I'm not."
Apollo raises his hand. "I told her by accident."
Hank looks over at him and sees Janet already frowning. She lights up a fist and points it right at Apollo who puts both hands up.
"You had one job," Janet says through gritted teeth.
"So did James and I thought he already did that," Apollo argues.
"Did what?" Sigyn asks, looking at each person individually to see who would give her an answer. She stops at her husband who thinks for a moment before his mouth circles. He knows. "Xavier?"
"Come on. A bunch of us knew, his parents knew, her parents knew-"
Angela's eyes widen. "My dad knew?"
"Knew what?" Sigyn asks again.
Angela faces her. "James was going to propose-"
Angela's cut off by screeching before she could finish and Sigyn could react. Everyone turns to see Emily and Daniel walking in. She's bouncing on her toes from the news, the messy bun in her hair bobbing along with her.
"Did you know?" Emily asks Daniel, holding his arm.
"Know what?" Daniel questions tiredly.
"You so knew. Daniel!"
He shakes his head. "We'll discuss this later."
"Daniel-"
"Emily," his serious tone and intense eye contact freeze her on the spot for a moment. Her eyes widen as she lets go of him and walks over to Sigyn and Angela, taking a seat with them. Daniel exhales as Emily looks away from him.
Apollo slides out of his seat and skitters over to Daniel to evade Janet's glares that follow him with every step. Xavier gets up and whispers something to Sigyn who nods before he joins Apollo and Daniel.
"What did you do to bother her?" Daniel asks Apollo, referring to Janet's death stare.
"What makes you think I did something?" Apollo questions.
Janet lights up her hand and points a finger gun at him. Hank mouths at Apollo to run.
Apollo scratches the back of his head. "Someone should've stopped me."
"Let's take a lap," Xavier suggests despite leading Apollo down a different hallway where they have access. It should lead to the parking garage and the cafeteria.
Janet lowers her finger gun, her arm shaking even when Hank holds her close to him.
"Angela," Hank says, "we're sorry about all this."
"I hate my husband," Sigyn says.
"Me too," Emily adds.
"And my cousin."
"Him too."
Angela nods slowly, staring at her shoes again until her vision blurs with tears.
-o-
Merida walks into the hospital through the parking garage holding her phone to her ear with one hand and a sealed boba tea in the other. Doctors and nurses pass her, glancing at the SHIELD badge clipped onto her jeans. She steps to the side when a stretcher passes her, catching a glimpse of the agent on it and sucking in a breath. The agent looked rough after a mission, but recovery should be smooth sailing. She can only hope for the best for James.
"Can you hear me?" Merida asks on the phone, conveniently next to a no cell phones sign. "I lost service for a moment."
Blake: Where are you?
"The hospital." The call silences for a moment and she checks to see if she lost service again. Her phone says it's still going. "Blake?"
Blake: Merida!
"What?"
Blake: You should've called me.
"I am."
Blake: [mutters something in German] You're in the hospital! What happened?
Merida scoffs. "Relax. I'm here to check James. His knee acted out after a mission when he was leaving a debriefing with Angela."
Blake: He resigned today, didn't he?
"Yeah," she laughs a little, "dude's got amazing luck."
Blake: But at least he got the girl.
"Yeah, at least Angela was there."
Blake: … oh, Mer-
Merida raises a brow. "What? What do you know?"
She isn't sure if Blake said anything because her attention turns to Apollo speeding towards her, grabbing her phone from her hand. Xavier and Daniel follow at a slower speed.
"Nothing!" Apollo yells. "Blake knows absolutely nothing." He holds the phone to his ear. "Hey, Blake, you know nothing. Merida loves you and will talk to you later when James is around."
"What the hell?" Merida says as Apollo hangs up the phone. "What's wrong with you?"
"Janet's mad at me."
"Now so am I."
Xavier groans. "You should just stop talking."
"I'm just making sure Blake didn't tell her."
Merida narrows her eyes. "Tell me what?"
"Shut. Up," Xavier orders him.
Daniel shakes his head, leaning against the wall. "I give up."
Apollo laughs nervously at Merida. "Nothing."
Merida crosses her arms. "Well, why does he know and not me? Don't you dare tell me it's Classified Guys' Day shit. It happened on my lawn!"
Iqadi walks out of a room nearby that she definitely wasn't allowed to be in, but she still looks as regal as always in a casual pantsuit compared to the others who just rolled out of bed and threw on the first outfits they could find (or James' parents who were suited up). She smiles at them as she walks forwards towards them.
"James planned to propose tonight," Iqadi says.
Merida nods. "Huh."
"How did you know?" Daniel asks her.
"Imanu told me," Iqadi explains. "Gorgeous ring. I got all the details. Now that we have that out of the way, before we go back out there I am telling all of you that I am taking full responsibility for what happened to James's knee."
I only have five chapters ready, so those will be going up weekly starting this Friday!