Getting Closer
Chapter 6 –
Getting Closer
While Banner and Stark were off playing in the laboratory, I was in one of the training rooms just stretching and doing some exercises. Nat was sent down to Loki to see if she could get some more information on why Loki was so easily captured. Fury knew that was because he wanted to be caught, we just didn’t know why yet.
Steve was still sitting at the table on the bridge as far as I knew, or was walking around looking at everything. He had looked like was deep in thought so I left him to his own devices. I know we had gotten close over the last few months, but I still wasn’t sure if that was because he was being a gentlemen and I was his closest friend, or if our time together did mean more and he was just being respectful. I decided to use our brief moment of downtime to gather my thoughts and just decompress.
My thoughts though of course drifted to a certain soldier. I had this huge crush on the man right when I met him, but I kept that to myself since I was sent to just help him get used to this new world that he had woken up to. But my feelings have just slowly gotten stronger over the last almost year. Things especially seemed to change since i had been rescued. Not because he had been the one to rescue me, but because ever since we got back, he didn’t seem to want to be apart just as much as I didn’t want to be either. He was constantly trying to find things to do or times to see each other. And he was also finding more reasons to touch me too. A hand touch here and there or just a guiding hand on my back.
God, when he placed his hand on my back to guide me anywhere, my heart melted and my skin tingled where his hand was. My favorite thought is when he when he offers me his elbow to wrap my hand through. I lean in and just breath in his unique scent. Its a mixture of a woodsy smell with vanilla, leather and motor oil. It was so manly, and perfectly fit for him.
I had just leaned over to transition into a handstand on the balance beam when I felt like I was being watched. “You know its rude to lerk in the dark.” I spoke out in a sing song voice. I heard a clearing of a voice and knew it was Steve right away. “Sorry… I didn’t want to interrupt. You looked very deep in thought.”
I brought my legs back down beside my arms, still balancing on my hands on the beam. “It’s okay. What brings you in to the gym?” I asked as I dropped down to the mat. I leaned back against the beam with my elbows resting on it. I caught Steve glance down for a brief moment before bringing his eyes back up to mine. I smiled inwardly at his subtle way of trying to check me out, but still trying to be respectful. He was starting to become a little more brave and comfortable around me.
“I was looking for you. You disappeared suddenly and I..umm.. I got worried that something was wrong.” He said while he reached up and scratched the back of his head like was embarrassed for noticing that I left or admitting that he followed me. I smiled softly at him then walked forward and laid a hand on his arm that was still by his side, “Im alright Steve. Thanks for thinking of me though. Just wanted to take advantage of the breather we had.” I chuckled.
He reached down and placed a hand on my cheek and ran his thumb over my cheek bone. I gasped quietly at the contact and at the gesture. He spoke lowly “You know…I find myself constantly thinking about you Doll.” I blushed at the nickname and looked down. Looking back up him, seeing those beautiful blue eyes of his, “I catch myself constantly thinking about you too Captain.” He smiled a cute happy smile right then that lit up his eyes.
He stepped a little closer to me, “Is that a bad thing Agent?” He asked. Shaking my head no, “No, but I also didn’t want to overwhelm you with my feelings. Especially with everything that’s been going on.” I reached up and placed my hand over his that was still on my face.
“Do you have feelings for me Agent?” He asked in a low whisper. It was such a direct answer. I took my off guard just a little bit and I didn’t answer right away, just looking at his blue eyes. I could see that he was nervous about my answer. Before I could answer he added, “Because, I’ve found myself with growing feelings for you. I’ve never met anyone as extraordinary and beautiful as you.”
The next question I asked, I regretted it but, I felt like I needed to ask. “Steve… umm…What about Peggy? It’s not just something you can get over in your situation.” I hated myself for asking that question, but even though its been about 70 years for everyone else, its been less than a year for him. That’s not something you get over quickly at all and I didn’t want to be a replacement. Steve closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He leaned his forehead against mine for a moment then stepped away from me. I closed my eyes and dropped my chin, mad at myself for bringing it up, but knowing that it needed to be aired before anything could happen between us. I felt ridiculous for being jealous of a woman that was old and frail. I kept the tears that were threatening to call at bay, knowing it wasn’t either one of faults.
“It’s alright Steve, she was your first love. Im not going anywhere and I will give you as much time as you need. But I wont be a replacement or a rebound for you.” I started to turn away to pick up the towel on the ground next to the balance beam but Steve grabbed my arm and turned me to face him again. My eyes darted to his in question, and his were filled with so much emotion. There was sadness, and a fierce determination in them.
“Wait, don’t turn away…just wait a second…” He muttered. “Steve, its okay. It doesn’t change how I feel, and this situation is very unique.” But he was shaking his head as I was speaking, “No, just listen for a second. Okay?” I nodded in a silent okay. He let go of me again so I hopped up on the beam again and sat waiting for him to speak.
“You’re right, I did love Peggy. I feel like she saw me for my heart when I wasn’t this,” He said, while motioning to his body. “She was there and just as sweet as she was before the serum as she was after. But I still always had in the back of my mind, ‘was she attracted to the super soldier Steve?’ and did that fuel more of her feelings? I don’t think I would have been able to get over that if I had made it back to her honestly. I know she would tell me different, but I don’t think it would have disappeared from the back of my mind. And once I met you, and started hanging out with you and getting to know you, I realized that what I had with her, while it was a form of love, I was never IN love with Peggy.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was looking at me now, “And I know for sure I never felt this strongly for her… as I do for you.” He ended softly.
“Oh…Steve…” I didn’t know what to say. I had my hand up at my mouth, and had tears in my eyes at the confession he just laid out to me. He stepped up to me, stepping between my legs and placed his arms on either side of me. I was level with him since I was sitting on the beam. “Im falling for you Agent Warner.” He whispered. Again I just sat there staring at him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I must have sat there staring at him too long, because he suddenly pulled back and turned from me again. His eyes went hard, trying to hide his emotions. “Listen, if you don’t feel the same. It’s okay. We can still be friends.. I will try to back off. I can wait if I need too.” That kicked my ass into gear, and I threw my hands up and blocked him from leaving the gym. He ran into my force field and he looked confused for a moment before turning around looking at me.
I walked towards him and placed my hands on his face… “Steve, don’t you dare walk away. Not after that speech. I was just thrilled and very shocked. You have been so reserved, and I didn’t know what to say. But I am so happy you feel that way!” He blushed while looking down. I angled his face back to look at me, “I am so thrilled you feel the same way Steve.” I smiled at him. His eyes lit back up at my statement, “Im falling for you too Steve Rogers.”
Not wanting to push him too much, I leaned up and kissed his cheek then pulled back, “So, does this mean I am your girl now?” He wrapped his arms around my waist, “Better be.” He muttered. He rested his forehead on mine and we just stood there in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
Stepping back, “So, shall we go check on the two lab rats? Make sure they are behaving?” I asked. I would have loved nothing more than to lean up and kiss him, but I feel like some of his 40’s era mentality was still in there and though that confession was bold, it was still perfect for him. We had only started to really get close the last handful of months and we hadn’t even been out on a date officially.
“Ma’am.” He said, offering me his elbow. Rolling my eyes at him, but still laughing, I wrapped my hand in the crook of his elbow and we made our way towards the lab. Leaning in and breathing him in as we walked, I felt him lean down and give me a kiss on my head. Swoon!
As we approved the lab, the door slid open in front of us right when I heard Banner yell out an “OW”. Steve stormed forward away from me, “Are you nuts?” Looking between Stark and Banner. I had my gaze on Banner though, making sure he was under control.
Stark was still looking at Banner though, “Nothing?” Then walked away a little bit, “You really have a lid on it don’t you?” I stepped up next to Steve, “How about we don’t test out what make Bruce here turn green, Stark?” I gave Tony a glaring look.
“Don’t worry Agent Warner, I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle…. pointy things.” Bruce added. I nodded my head at him, trusting him.
“You are tiptoeing big man. You need to strut. Let loose.” Tony added, while he was walking around still working on some of the screens that were all over the room. I walked over and was checking out the program that was hunting for the tesseract and doing a few modifications while the boys were chatting.
“You need to be focusing on the problem Mr. Stark. That’s one of the reasons why you were brought aboard right?” Steve asked. That got Tony’s attention. “You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us now? Why didn’t he call us before?”
I jutted in, “Well he didn’t call you before because you don’t play well with others.” I smirked at him, referencing when Natasha was undercover working for him and Pepper. Tony looked back over at me shaking a finger at me. I just laughed and went back to the screen in front of me.
“You think Fury is hiding something?” Steve asked.
“Captain, he is a spy. He is THE spy. His secrets have secrets. It’s bugging him too! And Her!” Tony said and then pointing at both Banner and I.
“Emma? Doctor?” Steve asked with a questioning tone. I didn’t know how to answer him. I know Fury was hiding something. There is a reason why he asked Barton to help out at the job at the PEGASUS base and not myself or Nat. Her and I tended to question more things than Barton did.
“A warm light for all mankind. Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.” Banner said quietly. Steve nodded and spoke, “Yeah, I heard it.” Not understand where Banner was taking that conversation.
I pointed at Tony, “It was meant for him. It was referring to Stark Tower.” I said, walking up next to Steve again. “It’s powered by Stark Reactors, a self sustaining energy source.” I added.
“That would what? Run that building…for a year?” Banner asked Tony.
Stark answered, “That’s just the prototype. Im kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”
Bruce was still standing behind the table working on the scepter, while Tony was over typing away on another screen again when Bruce asked, “Why didn’t they bring you in to work on the tesseract project Stark? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” That made me stop and think as well. Why didn’t they bring in Stark? His dad did work on the tesseract? Hell, my dad and grandparents did testing too. Why didn’t Fury bring me in to help or even allow me to be in the area of it?
Tony answered so nonchalantly, “I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of shield secure files.” I spun around to look at him, but Steve beat me to it, “Im sorry what? Did you say…” But Tony cut him off, “Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few short hours, we will know every dirty secret shield has ever tried to hide.”
“Tony, Fury is going to storm in here anytime. Their servers are going to alert them that a decryption program is working.” I told him. Tony just rolled his eyes at me. Steve told him while crossing his arms, “And you are confused on why they didn’t want to bring you on?” I laughed at that.
“Listen, I think Loki is trying to wind us up. So for now, we should just follow orders.” Steve said. But I didn’t say anything to that. I didnt feel like being kept in the dark either. But Steve is a soldier, following orders is part of him.
“Yeah, following is not really my style.” Stark said arrogantly. “And you’re all about style aren’t you Stark?” Steve said with a frustrated smile. Rolling my eyes as Tony walked over towards Steve, “Out of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing the spangly outfit, and B, not of use?” That got my attention, that last remark. “Hey! Tone it down there Stark.” I said and stepped in front of Steve. I did not appreciate the ‘not of use’ remark. Steve is a priceless asset to this team.
“Captain, tell me, does none of this smell a little funky to you?” Steve looked over to me after hearing Banner ask the question. I gave him a subtle nod that I agreed with Banner. You could see that he didn’t want to believe it, but knowing I was questioning things as well, he knew something was up.
“Just find the cube.” Steve muttered, then grabbed my hand and led me out of the lab. He was leading me down the hall pretty quickly. He looked like a man on a mission. Finally I tugged back on his hand and turned him to face me. “Steve, where are you going?” He looked behind him and then behind me, making sure no one was walking our way or close.
“Lets do some of our own investigating. I think something else is going on as well. You with me?” He asked, gazing into my eyes. I nodded back, “Always.” I smiled at him. Taking his hand again, I started leading him towards secure storage. “And I know just where to start.”
We stopped at a storage door that was locked. I swiped my badge across it to see what level access needed to clear it, and it was locked by Director Fury himself. Bingo. Looking at Steve I nodded to this door.
He went to try and open the door but couldn’t get a grip on it, “Step back for a minute. I can create an opening enough for you to get your fingers between the doors for better grip.” I pushed my hands out in front of me and formed a force field between the doors and then moved my hands outwards. The doors were strong and I was straining a tiny bit to get the gap in the door, then Steve placed his hands on one side and pulled. With us both working we then were able to slide the door open easily.
Walking in, there were metal crates stacked all over. I heard foot steps from an upper level and pulled Steve behind some of the crates quickly, waiting for the guards to leave the area. Steve tapped me on the arm and then motioned upward to the catwalk. Nodding my head, we stepped out and I watched Steve, with ease, jump up on the upper level.
“Show off.” I mumbled. I hadn’t quite mastered the making my self float with my force field yet, so instead I used some of my enhanced athletic ability and ran towards one of the crates, leapt off that, towards a vertical beam and kicked off that up onto the railing. I landed on the catwalk a little ways down from Steve and raised my eyebrow at him. He just smirked then was serious again. He motioned towards a couple crates that had the PEGASUS symbol on it.
When he lifted up the crate lid, I gasped. “That asshole! What the fuck is he thinking.” I muttered quietly. Steve was furious. Looking at the crate full of hydra weapons.
“Why do they have these?” He asked. I shook my head, “ I have no idea. This has to be what they were working on with the tesseract.” Steve grabbed one of the guns and laid it on his shoulder, “Come on. Lets go.” We both leapt off the catwalk with ease and proceeded back out of the door.
We were walking back towards the lab with a look of a deadly mission. Anyone we passed had to have felt the anger because they all moved out of our way quickly.