Chapter 18
My fingers trace soft patterns along Stephen’s chest, circling over the purple blotches left behind from my mouth along his collarbone, chest, and neck as he breathes evenly.
His fingers run up and down along my spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind his touch.
“I hate to say this,” He breathes, his voice low in his chest, “but it is almost ten o’clock.”
I groan, rolling onto my back and pulling him by his hips so that he’s laying on top of me.
Stephen laughs, looking down at me and brushing his fingers through my hair.
“What if we ditch the meeting?” I ask, sliding my fingers up his side. “I doubt they’d even notice.”
He laughs again, leaning down to kiss me softly.
“I think Fury would notice.” He murmurs. “And I think he’s definitely expecting us to be there.”
I groan again, letting him roll off me and stand beside the bed.
I turn to lay on my side, watching as he gets dressed.
He turns to look at me as he pulls his shirt over his head, picking my shirt up from the floor and holding it out.
I roll my eyes as I sit on the edge of the bed, letting him pull the shirt over my head for me.
He holds my pants out to me then, and I step into them, wrapping my arms around his hips as he clasps the button.
“Fine, let’s go to the stupid meeting.” I say, looking up at him.
He laughs, his fingertips slipping underneath my shirt and brushing against my skin.
“And Nat wants to plan wedding ideas with us later.” He whispers, leaning down and pressing his lips against my neck once.
I exhale dramatically.
“You’re lucky I love you.” I mutter, and he chuckles as he takes a half step away from me, facing the open space in the room.
He reaches his hand out, opening a portal in the empty space.
We step towards it, going into the center and appearing in the hallway outside of the conference room.
I open the door, and most of the team sits around the table inside already.
My chair is open, and the chair beside it has been left empty as well.
I lead Stephen towards it, greeting everyone as we walk past them.
“Morning Sunshine.” Nat says as I sit down. “What’s this all about?”
I shrug, sliding my hand under the table to rest it on Stephen’s knee as I look back at her.
“Fury’s here.” I answer. “So we’re probably in for a lecture.”
She laughs, and a few people roll their eyes at the idea of it.
“And after the lecture, you’re coming with us right Wanda?” Nat asks, looking across the table at her.
Wanda nods, smiling at Nat before looking at Stephen and me.
“Yes!” She exclaims. “Wedding planning will be exciting.”
I exhale through my nose, and Stephen puts his hand over mine, squeezing it gently.
Steve looks at me out of the corner of his eye, quickly looking away as the door opens.
“Alright settle down.” Fury says as he walks into the room, standing at the head of the table. “Long time no see.”
He looks around the table, taking in the faces looking back at him.
“So, I bet you’re all wondering why I’m here.” He says, crossing his arms over his chest. “This is a debriefing of what happened with Doctor Banner’s research, and Doctor Strange’s disposal, of the subject.”
Stephen tenses slightly beside me, and I run my thumb along his knee.
Bruce stands up, going to the front as he explains his findings, gesturing to the screens as he shows the various charts.
“Doctor Banner, I hate to interrupt, but the egg was so highly coveted because it was crossbred.” Stephen says lowly. “It was some sort of Skrull and Krylorian.”
Bruce’s eyebrows furrow as he turns back to the screen, clicking on a chart and double-checking numbers.
“That makes sense.” He murmurs, clicking something else. “The numbers of chromosomes and the pulse rate didn’t match anything we’d charted before.”
Fury stands, looking back and forth between the screen and Stephen once.
“Why the hell didn’t you mention that before?” He asks. “Don’t you think that’s important, Doctor?”
Stephen shrugs.
“No one asked.” He says flatly. “And it’s gone. Clearly it was the last one of it’s kind if they were all willing to die for it.”
Fury glares at him before turning to me.
“Did you know about this, Stark?” He asks me.
I look at Stephen before looking back at Fury, nodding.
“Yep.” I lie. “But he’s right, if they had more of this breed why would they care so much about us getting to it first?”
Fury’s jaw tightens, and he sits down slowly.
“I have to agree.” Nat says after a minute. “If there are more in other parts of the galaxy, I’m sure Wong and Strange would know.”
Stephen nods, and no one else says anything.
Banner quickly finishes his presentation, sitting back down at the table and looking down at his hands.
“Alright, well.” Fury says, clapping his hands together. “I guess that’s all for now.”
Everyone awkwardly gets up, passing past him as they leave the room.
I put my head down, taking Stephen’s hand as I push past Fury behind Natasha, ignoring his glare to the side of my head.
We follow her and Wanda to one of the smaller living rooms, sitting on the floor around a table that has been covered in papers and pictures.
“Okay, so we have to think of a date, colors, a theme, a guest list—” Nat begins, rattling off a long list of tasks for us to accomplish.
The various pictures of churches and flowers all begin to blur as she and Wanda make various combinations of them, asking me and Stephen which we like and which we don’t.
I nod along to them as they plan over and over again, making extravagant plans and changing them just as quickly.
“Tony?” Wanda asks, and I blink, looking up at her as I realize I missed the question. “What did you think?”
I shake my head, running a hand through my hair.
“I don’t know.” I answer honestly. “I’m sorry, can we come back to this later?”
She smiles at me, nodding as she collects a pile of papers.
“Of course.” She answers. “Whenever you want.”
I nod, smiling back at her tightly as I stand up, pulling Stephen to his feet beside me.
We say goodbye to her and Nat before I pull him to an elevator, pressing the button that leads us to my room.
I close the door to the bedroom behind me, locking it as I press my back against the wood.
“Are you mad that I didn’t tell you about the half-breed?” Stephen asks, looking at me with concerned eyes.
I shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest.
“No, I don’t care about that.” I answer. “I trust your judgement.”
He nods, taking a slow step towards me.
“So what’s wrong?” He asks in a quiet voice.
I take a deep breath.
“I just—this whole wedding thing is a lot.” I tell him, my voice trailing off towards the end.
His face drops slightly as he moves closer slowly.
“Are you getting cold feet?” He asks after a moment, his voice just as uncertain as mine.
My head snaps up, and I close the gap between us instantly, wrapping him in my arms tightly.
“No, no.” I whisper, pressing my head against his chest. “I just mean… there’s so much to plan. The flowers and the colors and the venues?”
He nods, his hand resting on my back gently.
“I want to marry you, that’s all.” I whisper. “I don’t need lights and cameras and a show.”
Stephen reaches down to my chin, tilting my face up to look at him.
“Anything you want.” He whispers back. “Give me your hand.”
I nod, and he slides his hand down my shoulder, taking my left hand in his.
The warm buzz of magic spills across my knuckles, wrapping around my fourth finger in a brightly glowing band of orange.
As the magic disappears, a dark blue ring is left behind.
I look at it, smiling up at him.
Suddenly, I’m swept off of my feet by an orange glow of magic, and Stephen guides the force to the bed, laying me down gently.
“I’ll marry you any way you want.” He whispers, climbing onto the bed and hovering on top of me. “Say the word, and I’ll be there.”
I laugh, twisting my fingers into his hair as I pull him down to me, kissing him deeply.