Elevated

Steve made waffles and Nora stayed to eat them. They were really good and it seemed like whatever it was that made Steve treat her so weirdly was gone. Clint launched into a long story about the gangsters he seemed to be in some sort of extended feud with, and Nora laughed at how incompetent they all seemed. Bucky sat beside her at the island and ate his waffle plain.

She thought, somewhere in the middle of their meal, that he might not know how else to approach it. He liked coffee, they went three times a week, but he had apparently spent a long time not drinking it at all because he just wasn’t sure what to have. Nora took a piece of her own waffle, cut carefully into squares each with a strawberry slice and dollop of whip-cream, and put it on his plate.

He ate it. He didn’t say anything which might have meant he didn’t like it or might have meant he did. Nora wasn’t bothered either way.

After breakfast she figured she’d better go home. She wanted to get out of the stupid STARK sweatpants and wash the lab debris out of her hair. She said goodbye to the heroes and Bucky said firmly, “I’ll walk you,” and followed her to the elevator.

She caught the interested look Sam was giving her from the other end of the room but decided she didn’t have it in her to clear the air any further. They rode the elevator to the lobby, the two of them and Luna, and Bucky walked her out onto the sidewalk. She got a few strange looks from other tower employees, but that wasn’t really new and she ignored them.

Bucky was better at waving down cabs than her. She thought it might be because he was giant. He seemed better, not like he was freaking out anymore, though really he looked exactly the same. He was definitely wearing the same clothes he had been when he’d hauled her out of the lab.

Her stomach did a strange little flop. He really hadn’t liked the medical floor, but he’d come to see her anyways. He opened the door of the cab and she let Luna jump in and then stood for a second, looking at his face and trying to gauge if her idea was good or bad. She couldn’t tell. He was as unreadable as ever. She decided not to let it bother her. He would either mind or he wouldn’t.

She took one step and wrapped her arms around his middle. With her ear pressed against his chest again she could hear the rapid beat of his heart and knew he felt some type of way about the hug, but couldn’t guess if it was good or bad. His right hand stayed firmly on the door of the cab, the left hovered just above her shoulder like he was considering wrapping it around her, or maybe pushing her away, but he didn’t do either. Nora let him go. His face was still unreadable.

She slid into the cab, “Bye Bucky.”

It took him a second to close the door.

Back in her apartment Nora took a long shower and washed her hair. She inspected the gash on her forehead carefully and decided she might have a scar. She put on her own sweatpants and hoodie and was extremely frustrated when they weren’t nearly as comfortable as Stark’s. She lounged around with Luna and watched four movies in a row. She ordered pizza for dinner.

Then, the next morning, she got up and got dressed for work. Tony had told her to take a couple of weeks off when he thought he was firing her, and she was sure nobody would mind if she at least took a couple days. She just really didn’t trust the heroes to convince Bruce she wasn’t mad at him.

She wore jeans and a hoodie, and was positive nobody would give her hell for it. She wasn’t exactly sure where to find Bruce when she got to the tower, but she wanted to see the lab too so she went there first.

Darcy darted out of the lab, followed by Jane when she wandered down the hall out of the elevator, “Nora! Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Nora answered mildly, accepting the hug she was given.

“What happened?” Both women surveyed her critically, clearly not believing that she was actually fine.

“Thor’s weird rock blew up. The lab’s a mess.”

Jane slapped both hands over her mouth, looking horrified, “The paperweight?”

“Yeah.” Nora answered. Jane had indeed been using it to hold down a stack of napkins that were also most of a serious paper on gravitational anomalies, “Thor said it was harmless but I tried to scan it and it fully exploded.”

“Oh my god!”

“I know.” Nora patted her arm sympathetically, “It really is fine. I just came to see the damage.” The two women followed her down the hall to the door at the end. Nora noted that the outside was dented. It reminded her vaguely of an elevator door she knew, and she felt a twist of something. She shoved it down in favour of crossing the threshold and examining the lab, “Aw dang.”

It really was ruined. She’d been in it the day before, but she hadn’t really taken it in. She’d been too shocked by the entire event.

“Shit,” Darcy said, looking horrified at the entire space, “Nora you’re lucky you aren’t dead.”

Nora hummed. She left the other two women a little while later back in their own lab and returned to the elevator. She wasn’t really sure where to find Bruce so when she got on she sucked in a breath and tried, “FRIDAY? Can you take me to see Bruce?”

“Yes, Dr. Silver.” The smooth voice replied. The elevator doors slid shut and it started to rise. Nora didn’t really care for the AI, but she wished she knew about that function when she’d been looking for someone to watch Luna. She could have done without the whole gym visit. An image popped into her head, unbidden, and she shook it away. If her face was a little red when she stepped out, she was sure everyone would just chalk it up to her claustrophobia.

The elevator ride was incredibly short, and deposited Nora in another lab. This one was huge and very distinctly Tony Stark. There were vintage cars, posters, and a dozen or so Iron Man suits in various shades of hot rod red. Nora shot them curious looks as she wandered by. There was music playing, classic rock that wasn’t necessarily her flavour, but which she didn’t mind. Tony was leaning on a table frowning deeply at Bruce, who was slumped into a comfortable looking couch.

“Hi Bruce, Hi Mr. Stark.”

“Silver,” Tony greeted, turning to frown at her instead, “How’d you get up here?”

Nora shrugged, “FRIDAY dropped me off. Am I not supposed to have access?” Tony kind of squinted at her in a way she thought meant she wasn’t and she ignored him. Bruce was looking pretty green, but not in the way he had the day before. She thought she might be right for not trusting the heroes, “You okay Bruce?”

He sounded a little choked when he answered, “Nora, you shouldn’t be here.”

“I know. Stark’s a nut, I really don’t wanna know what he gets up to in here.” Tony made an outraged noise, “But I wanted to see when we can get back to work. I bet the Coolidge machine’ll work now that Odin’s stupid rock is gone.”

A weird look crossed his face. Tony waved at her, “See? I told you!”

Bruce, for once, ignored him, “Nora you aren’t coming back to work. I could’ve hurt you.”

Nora waved a hand dismissively the way she’d seen Tony do before, “It’s fine.”

“It isn’t fine!” Bruce grit, “You’re not coming back. You’re fired.”

Nora laughed, “No I’m not.” Bruce looked at her in surprise, “Stark hired me because I told him no when he was acting insane, I’m not going to let you get away with it. It was an accident. I could’ve gotten hurt and I didn’t because of your big green friend. He was pretty apologetic about my desk, actually. It sucks that the lab got exploded, but I’m sure the tower has Hulk insurance and we can get back to work when it’s fixed.” Bruce’s expression slid from surprise, to wonder, and then to a sort of watery something she didn’t quite get.

Tony made an annoyed sound, “Nobody will insure me for a Hulk.” He tapped his fingers on his leg, “Or Barnes. That metal arm is hell on furniture.”

Bucky thought he might recognize the soft, warm thing that was living in him. It had slipped in when he saw Nora standing, looking okay, in the middle of the lounge. And then it settled and refused to budge at her hug.

He had wanted to hug her back. He’d managed it in the ruin of the lab, so why hadn’t he been able to move? She didn’t seem bothered, but if she thought he hadn’t liked it she would never do it again, the way she never ordered the coffees he didn’t care for. He really wanted her to do it again.

The soft warm thing, and the thing in his chest with the claws seemed to chase each other in circles. The first grew at her touch and the second at his inability to respond. The first whispered she would do it again, the second hissed that she never would. It left him feeling unsteady.

He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t think he could do anything if he did. He was still broken. Full of anxiety and shame. Unable to sleep, unable to string a sentence together, unable to make a decision.

She didn’t mind, when they went for a walk to the little coffee shop down the road. All those things were fine. But maybe they weren’t fine for anything else.