Fated Marks

I was very warm and comfortable. It was exhausting to even think about opening my eyes. Then there was a strong bump and I woke up, practically jumping off of Thor.

“AH!” I jumped.

“Hayley.” Thor said.

“We’re on a jet.” I said looking around.

“We’re going home.” Natasha said.

“What about…” I started.

“Taken care of.” Will said.

“I was supposed to…” I started.

“Done.” Will said.

“And the Russian…” I started.

“Handled.” Tony said.

“Oh…wake me up when we’re home.” I said sitting back down on Thor’s lap and hugging him. He kissed the top of my head and held me as I drifted off to sleep again.

The next time I woke up we were finally back in New York.

“We’re here.” Thor said.

“Mhm.” I said opening my eyes. I sat up a bit and kissed Thor’s cheek. He smiled and kissed me on the lips before Tony cleared his throat very loudly to get our attention.

“Doors open.” Tony said.

“I can see that.” I said.

“And you’re getting checked out.” Natasha said.

“Guys I’m fine.” I said standing up and stumbling a bit.

“You were saying?” Steve asked.

“I just got up too fast.” I said. “Besides John looked me over and gave me the all clear. I don’t need a check up. I just need a super cheesy grilled cheese and one or two of you to cuddle up in bed with me and go back to sleep.”

“Your mom…” Steve started.

“Is dead to me and everything that ever came out of her mouth was a lie.” I said. “I should know I helped cover up most of those lies.”

“Hales, you were in a coma for over a year and you woke up like it never happened.” Tony said.

“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?” I retorted.

“It’s not a bad thing, but the fact that she said most people didn’t make it past a week is.” Clint said.

“Well it’s been two days and I feel better than I’ve felt in ages. I’m finally home and you all just saved the world. Can we just take the win?” I said.

“Are you…” Steve started.

“Uh Can I go to… where I’ll be staying?” Wanda asked.

“Yeah. I’ll show you.” Natasha said.

“Kitchen’s still in the same place right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Tony said.

“Grilled Cheese sandwiches sound amazing.” Will said following after me.

We settled in the kitchen and made enough for everyone. As soon as the sandwiches were done everyone slowly came in one by one.

“Mh, that hits the spot.” Will moaned.

“I think the last thing I ate were those tacos you snuck in…” I said.

“That was two days ago.” Will said.

“That might explain why I started feeling dizzy.” I said.

“You went two days without eating?” Thor said concerned.

“There was a lot going on, I just kinda forgot.” I said taking a bite of my sandwich, finishing it. “Is my room still in the same place?”

“Yeah.” Tony said.

“Cool,” I said grabbing a tray with food. “I’ll go give this to Wanda. Will you’re crashing in the spare room.”

“That was the plan.” He said.

“There’s a plate for Bucky.” I told Steve.

“I’ll get it to him.” Steve said giving me a small smile.

“Oh and Tony?” I said.

“Yeah?” He said.

“I locked you out of the lab until noon tomorrow. Get some sleep.” I said.

“You didn’t have to.” Tony said.

“Yeah I did.” I said kissing him. “Seriously, six to eight hours.”

“Good night.” I said picking up the tray of food.

“Night.” They said.

I walked to the elevator and waited to be dropped off on the floor Wanda was staying on.” I walked out of the elevator and saw Vision pacing or… well floating in circles outside of Wanda’s room.

“Hi.” I said awkwardly.

“Miss Adams what brings you here?” Vision said and I couldn’t help but stare at the android.

“Sorry.” I said shaking my head. “I’m just used to you being in the ceiling and not… here.”

“It has been quite an adjustment.” He said.

“Are you here to see Wanda?” I asked.

“Uh… I’m not sure.” Vision said and I looked at him confused. “She has suffered a terrible loss and is quite affected by it. I read that in times like this talking is important for the grieving process but I do not know how to go about it.”

“Did you get that off the internet?” I asked.

“Yes.” Vision said.

“Everyone grieves differently. Some people close themselves off, some people lash out. But most of the time, they just feel scared and alone. Just be there for her so she knows that she isn’t. And also make sure she eats.” I said handing him the tray. “She needs to keep her strength up.”

“Thank you.” Vision said.

“No need.” I said heading back to my room. I didn’t feel like digging through my closet for clothes that didn’t fit me anymore so I took my pants off and took off my sweater top staying in just a black tank top. I crawled under the covers and just replayed the entire day. I groaned at what a disaster everything had been. An entire country was devastated by a deranged robot. Thousands were dead. Even more don’t have homes anymore. My mother’s alive. Hadrian’s dead and… Fuck.

“Hey.” I heard Clint say.

“Hey.” I said.

“Never thought I’d walk in here again.” He said.

“Neither did I.” I said staring at the lamp on the bedside table. I felt the bed dip behind me before Clint draped an arm over my waist and spooned me.

“You okay?” Clint said.

“Yeah just… now that’s everything over and I’m thinking back on everything that happened. It’s kind of a mess.” I said.

“Yeah it is.” He said.

“I almost married fake Nate, woke up from a coma, got kidnapped by Russians, gave Hadrian to the russians, found out my mom’s not really dead, stole from the government, watched a city fly up in the sky, helped save people from an evil killer robot and… Bruce is gone and and… you almost died… and people actually did die and….” I said out of breath.

“Hales.” Clint said

“Wow.” I said panting.

“Hey look at me.” Clint said making me turn to face him. He gently cupped my cheek and rested his forehead against mine. ”Just breathe.”

“I’m okay… Just… that all happened in two days.” I said.

“It did.” Clint said hugging me.

“You almost died.” I said and he hugged me tighter.

“I’m still here.” He said. “We both are. Finally retired.”

“Are we?” I asked.

“I meant it Hales. This was my last job.” Clint said.

“Is that really what you want? To hang up your bow and quiver, stay out of the action and live the simple life?” I asked.

“If it means hanging up the bow in our house and living the simple life with you, then there’s nothing I want more.” Clint said. “Is that what you want?”

 I sat up a bit and moved so I was straddling Clint’s lap. “Wanting that is what woke me up. Not even a coma could change my mind.” Clint sat up and kissed me. I put my arms around him and tugged his hair a bit making him moan.

“I love you Hales.” He whispered as he kissed behind my ear and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

“Love you too.” I said holding onto him. He flipped us over so he was hovering over me before kissing me again. He moved to lie next to me and pulled me to him. I reached up and gently took out his hearing aids before handing them to Clint. He put them on the bedside table. Before we curled up together.

The Next Morning-

I felt so warm and comfy. Clint was curled up behind me. I could feel his exhales on the back of my neck. The pillow I was hugging was also really warm and moving…

I opened my eyes and saw Natasha laying down next to me. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes before smiling at me.

“Morning.” I whispered.

“Morning.” She said leaning over and kissing me. “I’m going to go to my room and shower.”

“You can shower here.” I offered.

“All of my things are downstairs.” Natasha said.

“Oh.” I said remembering everything that happened after I asked Clint and Nat to move in.

I shifted a bit and Clint groaned. “Don’t go.” He muttered.

“I’ll see you at breakfast.” She said before walking out. I turned and kissed Clint’s cheek before going back to sleep.

The next time I woke up was because Clint was moving around.

“Sh sh.” I hushed as I ran my fingers through his hair. He squeezed me tight before gasping and waking up. “You’re okay.” I whispered.

“Sorry.” He said.

“You had a rough few days.” I said. Clint moved away to get a better look at me before kissing me. I hummed before deepening the kiss. Clint moved us so I was on my back as he slowly ran a hand up my back.

I pulled him closer as he started kissing down my neck and rocking his hips against mine.

“Hm.” He moaned before pulling away. “Sorry Got carried away.”

“I’m not complaining.” I said kissing him.

“No.” He said.

“No?” I asked feeling embarrassed. I was really turned on and I was embarrassed. I didn’t even feel this self conscious the first time we had sex and now. Maybe it was about how bad I looked. I was really skinny, like almost unhealthy skinny. “I mean I’m not in the best shape…”

“No baby it’s not that.” Clint said. “You’re beautiful and I want to trust me I really really want to… so much.”  

“But?” I asked.

“But, I want to make sure that its okay for us to do this without hurting you.” Clint said really fast.

“Ah.” I groaned.

“Hales.” Clint started. “We almost lost you and I want you to be okay.”

“But I am okay.” I said. “Great even.”

“But a second opinion’s always good considering…” He started.

“Considering I might be on a deadline?” I said and Clint frowned.

“You’re not on a deadline.” Clint said.

“I know I’m not because I feel great, albeit a little horny but you know, nothing a cold shower can’t fix. I’d invite you but I don’t want to tempt you.” I said getting up but Clint moved quickly and wrapped his arms around my waist to stop me.

“We’re not going to fight.” Clint said. “You almost died and I don’t want to live without you again so can you please tell me what’s going on in that pretty, amazingly smart head of yours?”

“She was lying.” I said. “I am… ninety nine point nine nine percent sure she was lying. I was ready to wake up. I took the plunge. Whatever she drugged me with wasn’t the reason I woke up.”

“Then why not make sure.” Clint said.

“Because we just got out of one mess. Hadrian’s dead. The world is safe. We’re retired. We open this door and we’re right back where we started.” I said. “I called her bluff. It’s done, I just want to stop looking back and move forward.”

“We are moving forward, it’s just a check up Hales.” Clint said.

“I feel fine. I got the all clear from two doctors, we’re done. Take the win Clint.” I said resting my forehead against his.

“Get checked out Hales. Full work up please.” He said. “Do it for us.”

“Did you get checked out?” I retorted and he frowned. “Are you kidding me!?”

“It slipped my mind.” He said.

“So let me get this straight I have the okay from two doctors telling me I’m in great health, a medical miracle and you didn’t get an okay from at least a field nurse after you fought robots, got shot at and almost died?” I asked feeling a bit annoyed.

“Don’t be mad.” Clint started.

“I’m not mad. But you’re right having sex right now when you could be gravely injured and possibly even be bleeding out internally is a horrible idea.” I said sarcastically as I stood up.

“Very funny.” He said not meaning it in the slightest.

“I know I am.” I said walking into the bathroom. I freshened up and did my business before walking out where Clint was having a silent conversation with Natasha.

“You’re getting checked out.” Natasha said.

“But I’m fine. Just hungry, But the cold shower did help take the edge off.” I said before letting the towel I had wrapped around me fall to the ground. “Whoops.”

“I need a shower.” Clint muttered walking into the bathroom. “An ice cold one.”

I walked to the closet and started looking around for clothes. That might fit me. I found a striped tee and some jeggings. I felt a bit cold with the AC so I pulled on a chambray button down over it.

“Ready to go?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, totally craving an omelet.” I said.

“You’re not supposed to eat before a blood test.” Natasha said.

“I’m not going to the hospital I’m going upstairs to the kitchen.” I said.

“Hayley…” Natasha said getting ready to lecture me but before she could say another word I kissed her.

“I hardly ate yesterday or the day before. I’m going to go upstairs and get something to eat.” I said giving her a quick peck before walking out just as the same time Will came out of the guest room.

“Morning.” I said.

“Morning.” Will said scratching his head.

“Breakfast?” I asked.

“Sure. When are you going to medical?” Will asked.

“I’m not going to medical.” I said pressing the button for the elevator.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Will said sternly.

“I got cleared by…” I started as I stepped into the elevator.

“That was before we found out your mother injected you with who knows what.” Will said.

“And I haven’t had any side effects and am in perfect health.” I said as we stepped out into the common floor.

“You got dizzy yesterday.” Will said.

“I didn’t eat or sleep for forty eight hours.” I defended.

“You were in a coma.” Will deadpanned.

“And I woke up.” I retorted as we walked into the kitchen. “Morning.” I said kissing Steve’s cheek as I walked past him and gently patted Bucky on the shoulder, the non metal one. “Oh bacon.” I said grabbing some off of Thor’s plate before sitting down between Thor and Tony.

“You’re in a good mood?” Tony said

“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m home.” I said.

“You feeling alright? No headaches? Dizziness…” Tony started.

“None, just really hungry.” I said.

“You still have to get checked out…” Steve started.

“I already did.” I answered taking the plate he served me. “By two doctors, I’m great.”

“Doesn’t count.” Natasha said walking in.

“Yeah it does.” I said.

“You can just go down to medical… finally use that MRI…” Tony started.

“Pass.” I said drinking my coffee.

“Hayley…” Steve started.

“Nope.” I continued.

“Love it may be a good idea to consult a healer…” Thor started. “The last time you said you were fine your insides burst.”

“My appendix burst and that could have happened to anyone.” I said.

“Most people go to the doctor when they know something’s wrong like right now.” Will said giving me a pointed look.

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” I reiterated.

“And we can make sure…” Tony started.

“Don’t need too.” I said. “I’m not in a coma, Not stuck in bed and I feel better than ever.”

“Wha…” Will started.

“And I only got dizzy yesterday because I didn’t eat or sleep in over forty eight hours so don’t go there.” I said shutting Will up. “Can someone pass the syrup?”

Bucky passed it over and left it within my reach.

“Thank you.” I said before pouring it all over my pancakes. “So what are we doing today. Have you checked in with the foundation and…”

“All taken care of, I have a press conference later to clear up what happened but other than that we’re free.” Tony said.

“Any sign of Bruce?” I asked and everyone stayed quiet. “I’ll take that as a no.”

We finished breakfast and settled in the living room. About half way through the first new episode of Game of Thrones, the elevator dinged and I heard a dog bark.

I turned to the elevator and saw a certain pizza dog make a break for it. He jumped over the couch and tackled me.

“Lucky!” Clint called out.

“Oh who’s a good boy?” I said petting him.

“Hm hm.” He whined as he nuzzled me.

“Oh I missed you too.” I said. “Yes I did. Yes I did.” I said hugging him resting my forehead against Lucky’s before he tackled me knocking me back. “Who’s the best pizza dog in the whole wide world?”

“Woof!” He barked.

“Wow, I think he got a better reunion then you guys did.” Will said.

“Who wants a tummy rub?” I asked and Lucky rolled over on his side with his head on my lap.

Clint walked over and threw an envelope on the coffee table in front of me.

“Full work up and physical. I’m in perfect health and I’m cleared.” Clint said.

“Good.” I said.

“That’s it?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“We can go to the hospital right now and be back before lunch.” Clint said.

“Or just go down to medical. One short elevator ride away.” Tony said.

“I’m okay.” I said.

“We weren’t asking.” Clint said.

“Guys, I get that it’s been a rough couple of days and that Allison coming back from the dead might have you all a bit concerned…” I said.

“A bit? The woman raised a psychopath and sold you away for going against her, oh and lets not forget drugged you with something that we have no idea what it’s doing to you.” Will said.

“That was days ago and if it was going to kill me we’d be seeing symptoms by now. I’m exactly the same as I was before.” I said.

“You really think so?” Tony said.

“Well not exactly the same…” I admitted. “I learned my lesson and am not repeating the same mistakes as before. I’m retired.”

“Retired?” Steve asked.

“You’re kidding right?” Will said. “Two days ago you were throwing down shots with a Russian mob boss, blackmailing a hitman, and you sold your brother.”

“That was unfinished business.” I said. “I’m done, that also includes chasing after the dragon lady and letting her interfere in my life with her insane mind games. I’m out.”

“So what, you’re just going to sail off into the sunset and runaway again?” Tony said.

“More like move to a six hundred and forty acre farm upstate with that guy.” I said nodding at Clint.

“Huh?” They all said.

“Guess this is a good time as any to announce I’m retiring.” Clint said.

“You are?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah.” Clint said. “It’s time. But that doesn’t mean you get to avoid this.”

“I’ve been checked out already.” I said for the hundredth time.

“Your doctor checked your reflexes when you woke up and John basically did the same thing.” Will said.

“You need blood work, MRI, CT’s…” Tony said.

“We don’t know what that serum did to you…” Thor started.

“Or it could have done nothing.” I suggested.

“Hayley, you know how bad it could be if your mom gave you a watered down version of the serum used on me? You do remember Schmidt? The red skull?” Steve said.

“Bruce ended up turning into an angry green giant.” Tony said.

“It could also make you insane.” Bucky added and I gave him a pointed look.

“Dude.” I said.

“And there’s that.” Tony said. “Point is you’re getting checked out.”

“I’m not.” I said.

“What happened to I learned from my mistakes?” Will said.

“I did. The dragon lady…” I started.

“Your mom.” Will said.

“Dragon Lady.” I repeated. “She doesn’t make checks she can’t cash. Whatever she dosed me with, she wouldn’t have done it if she wasn’t sure it was going to work. I’m awake, it worked. Let’s call it a win and move on.”

“You thought she was dead for almost seven years and you don’t care why she faked it?” Natasha said.

“I don’t. She’s dead to me. End of discussion.” I said. 

“But…” Steve started.

“End of discussion.” I said sternly.

No one said anything until Natasha came up to me and plucked a hair off my head quite painfully.

“Ow, what the hell Nat!” I yelled.

“Hair follicles work for DNA tests right?” Natasha asked Tony.

“Yeah but it’s not as thorough…” Tony started.

“It’s a start.” She finished for him, putting the hair in a tissue and handing it over.

“I’ll go work on this…” Tony said before turning to me. “You want to…”

“Nope.” I said pressing play and continuing on my marathon.

The rest of the day everyone kept trying to bring it up.

The only one who didn’t bring it up was Bucky but I got the idea he didn’t talk much at all. He was a bit of a statue. His face didn’t give anything away. His mark on the other hand… dead giveaway.

He was tense, and concerned… worried even.

I was only a few episodes away from finishing the season before getting up.

“Where you going?” Will asked.

“I’m calling it a day.” I said.

“It’s barely eight.” Natasha said.

“Long day.” I said heading to the elevator. “Actually I’ll take the stairs. Need to get back into shape.” I said starting to head down.  

I got to my floor and I stopped. There was no way I was going to listen to another lecture. I’ve had enough today. I kept going down until I got to the lab. I walked in and whistled.

“Change your mind?” Tony asked.

“You remodeled.” I said ignoring his question as I walked around looking at all the monitors. There was a ton of wreckage probably from Vision coming out of the cradle and Ultron. That or Tony hasn’t cleaned up in a while. Probably both.

“Yeah, a few times.” Tony said. “When we started working on Veronica and Helen started coming by more often with the cradle prototypes we needed the room.”

“Veronica… because Bruce used to date…” I asked.

“He got a kick out of that.” Tony said before I started moving around and I picked up a rubix cube Tony had on his desk. He had a habit of fidgeting when he was working of overly caffeinated. It was kind of relaxing. “Do you want to see…”

“No.” I said putting the cube down. “I’m not here for that. I haven’t changed my mind.”

“You don’t really think that it did nothing do you?” He said looking at the cube.

“I stand by what I said. I was ready to wake up and she was bluffing.” I said and Tony took out his phone and started typing something out.

“What’s the integral of nine plus six times the square root of x plus x all over four times the square root of x plus x?” he said.

“X plus four times the square root of x plus two times the natural log of the absolute power of four plus the square root of c plus some constant.” I answered the simple problem.

Tony flipped over his phone and showed that exact same answer on an advanced calculator app.

“That doesn’t prove anything other than I’m good with numbers and you already knew that.” I said.

“You are good with numbers, but you didn’t used to be able to do advanced calculus in your head in just a few seconds.” Tony said.

“So I got better at math, I don’t see what’s so bad about that.” I said.

“You can speak perfect Russian.” Tony said. “No accent.”

“People wake up from comas speaking new languages all the time.” I said.

“Hales, you probably just broke the world record and solved this in just a few seconds.” Tony said picking up the cube.

“It’s called focus.” I said. “You should get some sleep. The press was brutal today.”

“They had reason to be.” Tony said. “Maybe this was my wake up call. I should follow you and Barton into retirement.”

“Is that what you want?” I asked.

“I almost destroyed the world.” Tony said.

“And saved it.” I said.

“After I put it in danger.” Tony said. “People died.”

“They did.” I confirmed. “But crying about it isn’t going to bring them back.”

“What?” Tony snapped.

“What’s done is done. We don’t cry over spilled milk. We grab a roll of paper towels, clean it up, and try to be more careful next time. You messed with something that man was not meant to meddle with but you also owned up to it and did what had to be done while putting your life at risk to make things right.” I said.

“I’m still a screw up.” Tony said.

“And I put myself in danger on purpose, took on a brainwashed master assassin and ended up in a coma. We screwed up but we did it to protect the people we loved.” I said putting my arms around his neck and Tony put his hands on my waist. “No one’s perfect.”

“Can you tell Spangles that?” Tony said.

“Stop deflecting.” I said.

“Like you’ve been doing?” Tony said.

“Here we go.” I said moving away but Tony pulled me back.

“Hales just tell me why?” He said resigned.

“What would you do if Howard showed up here one day and took over everything?” I asked.

“That’s one of my worst nightmares.” Tony said.

“The Dragon Lady coming back, is the nightmare I just woke up from. Hadrian was bad, she worse.” I said letting go of him. “Try to get some sleep.”

“I’ll try.” He said as I walked out.

I took the elevator back to my floor and headed straight to my room. Nat and Clint were in bed waiting for me when I walked in.

“Hales.” Clint said.

“We’re going to bed, I haven’t changed my mind but we’re not going to bed angry so we’re hitting pause.” I said.

“You’re being stubborn.” Natasha said.

“Pause.” I said getting dressed into my pajamas and then getting into bed. I closed my eyes and tried to relax but I could feel Clint and Natasha staring at me. “We’re in pause, go to sleep.”

It was quiet for a bit before I heard the lights click off and felt arms wrap around me.

Nat quietly drifted off to sleep and while it took Clint longer I soon heard his soft snores. But of course I couldn’t sleep. Again.

I called a bluff and I was right. I’ve never been surer of anything else. I was not going to go back into a coma in three days. This is the life I chose, good and bad, I’ll take it all and I wouldn’t change a single damn thing.

I got out of bed and headed upstairs to the common room.

I thought I would be alone there but I was wrong.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked. Bucky jumped a bit surprised.

“No.” he said in a low voice.

I nodded before I opened the fridge and grabbed a small pot to boil milk in. I moved around and grabbed everything. Bucky moved away to a corner and just watched me.

I stirred the hot chocolate before pouring it into two mugs, drizzled whipped cream on top and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on them. I put one on the table on the seat closest to Bucky before moving to sit to the far side of the counter. It was a minute before Bucky sat down. I saw him stare at the cup but he wouldn’t pick it up.

“It’s not poisoned.” I said.

“I know. I saw you make it.” He answered but stayed quiet.

I took a sip and put the cup down. “How mad is Steve?” I asked.

Bucky picked up the cup and took a small sip. “He didn’t say anything to me. Thinks I can’t handle it.” He said and stayed quiet.

“You think I’m being irrational?” I asked.

“That’s the last word I’d use.” Bucky said. “You’re stubborn. But you probably have your reasons.”

“Yeah.” I said and we stayed quiet for a few minutes. “You’re not going to ask why?”

“You don’t want to talk about it.” Bucky said.

“How long did you work with Hadrian?” I asked. Bucky shifted uncomfortably and didn’t say anything. “I spent years running away from him, running, hiding thinking he was going to pop up at any moment and just… yeah. He was the worst but it’s finally over. I’m free. Except I’m not because turns out my mom has been alive this entire time and not once did she try to stop him. Hell judging from that phone call she actually encouraged him to go after his son, her own grandson, his wife, me. It shouldn’t surprise me. She sold me to the Triad once. And now this. It’s not going to kill me. You don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Might be the only reason Hadrian never killed me. He came close once. He had me tied down for three days. I blacked out at one point and woke up in the desert with a note taped to my chest. So she did something to me and it’s not what it’s doing to me that worries me, it’s why she did it. You have a serum and a blindly loyal psychopath that will jump on command, why give it to the comatose girl that has always disagreed with everything you’ve ever done and no way in hell would ever side with you?”

Bucky just stared at me.

“Too Much?” I asked.

“You have something he didn’t.” He said

“Huh?” I asked.

“The goose. You don’t kill it because no other goose can lay gold eggs. Adler was obedient but unstable. You’re not on her side but you’re stable.” Bucky said.

“You think I’m stable? I tazed a guy two minutes after I met you and sold Hadrian to the guy I tazed.” I said and he shrugged.

“It was smart. Good aim.” Bucky said.

“I might be going insane.” I said.

“You’re not crazy.” Bucky said. “But if you want to be sure…”

“That your way of saying I need to go get checked out?” I asked. Bucky didn’t say anything instead he just took another sip of his hot chocolate.

“Thanks for the talk.” I said getting up and rinsing out my cup in the sink.

“Thanks for the hot chocolate.” Bucky said with a whipped cream mustache.

“You uh… you have a little…” I said gesturing to my mouth.

“Oh.” He said licking his lips and missing it completely. I grabbed a napkin and handed it too him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I said walking to the elevator.

I stood in the elevator and waited for the doors to close.

“Jarvis?” I said and then I remembered Jarvis was now Vision.

“Can I help you Ma’am?” An Irish voice answered.

“Uh… If you’re up that means Tony is still in the lab right?” I asked.

“That is correct.” Friday answered.

“Get me down there please.” I said.

“Yes ma’am.” Friday answered and the elevator moved down.

Once the doors opened I walked into the lab and walked towards Tony.

“Hey, I thought you were…” Tony said and I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his seat before leading him out of the lab. “Okay, so I haven’t been to bed yet.” He said once we were in the elevator and I pressed a floor button.

“I figured when the elevator started talking to me with an Irish accent.” I said as the elevator moved down.

“Uh hales we’re going the wrong way.” Tony said.

“No we’re not.” I said as the doors opened to the medical floor.

“This is medical.” Tony said.

“Yup.” I said.

“You’re…” Tony said.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“But you said…” Tony said.

“And now I’m saying yes.” I said.

“What changed?” Tony asked.

“I need to know if I’m the goose.” I said.