𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒕 || s. rogers & b. barnes

14||; 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆

"But I know they can't stay that way now because — because my face is all over every screen, every news page. I'm — I'm not a secret anymore. If I stay here, if I try and stay normal, I'll...I'll be chased and put in danger because fuck knows why I can't have something good for just a little while longer!" She scoffs out a disbelieving laugh.

"And that's been on my mind in some subconscious level since the minute I woke up this morning, and I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm here even is to just say goodbye and try and have one last day where I can even act normal before I — I go off the grid again and hope I don't — that I won't get —" she stops, running her hands up and down her face with a groan.

Danny grimaces, eyes flickering around her face before he lets out a sigh, placing his hands on his hips. "Mother of Christ," he mutters to the ground. He looks back up at her. "Are you seriously in danger, Emma?"

Irina drops her hands, staring off to the side as she gives a single nod. Danny curses, looking away. She hangs her head in shame. A long moment passes until Danny speaks again. "Well...might as well make the most of it while we still have time left, I guess," he sighs.

Irina glances up at him, finding Danny already looking at her with a sad smile. "Huh?" She mumbles, confused.

Danny chuckles, gesturing weakly to the bar. "Go on, Miss Avenger. Take the counter for the day. You and me. Doubt anyone will be coming in, though, what with everyone reeling from the recent alien invasion stuff. Pretty sure it'll be the talk of the globe for a few months. Expect a slow morning."

Despite herself, a laugh punches itself out of Irina, and she breaks out into a smile. Danny grins, tilting his head to the cashier with an expectant look. She steps up to him, wrapping her arms around his torso and giving it a gentle squeeze. Danny hesitates, but she feels his arms wrap around her in return, his chest rumbling softly with a chuckle.

She pulls away, reaching up and ruffling his head of curly dirty blonde hair. Danny huffs in amusement, pushing her away light-heartedly. "Don't make me regret it, Roberts," he grumbles.

Irina chuckles. "Wouldn't dream of it, Danny," she steps towards the back rooms, glancing back at him with a smile. "Thank you," she mumbles.

Danny smiles back in kind. "Always, Em," he says.

She makes her way into the changing rooms, where her uniform is dutifully folded away in her locker the same way she'd left it the day she left for S.H.I.E.L.D.. It makes her smile grimly, almost feeling nostalgic.

She takes off her current clothes, dressing in the café uniform. It's a black t-shirt and pants, with a white apron that has the café logo printed in the middle of it. She ties it around her waist, slightly cinching it. Irina fixes her hair, and brushes her hair out of her eyes, before glancing at herself in the full body mirror across from her.

Her bruises were near gone, despite it being just the next day. The sling her arm had been put in was gone, all that was left of the scorch mark left behind by the Chitauri on her shoulder being small scar tissue hidden by a bandage that one couldn't even see under her shirt.

She smiles to herself, and her heart gives a pang of pain.

One last little bit of normalcy.

Irina steps out of the back, fixing her watch on her wrist as she glances at the time. Just near noon. Maybe someone would come in, just one or two of their regulars, and —

"Hey, Em! Someone's here for you!" Danny calls from the cashier.

Irina stops, her eyes gliding up to him as he sends him a grin, eyes darting to a being on the other side of the cash register, their face hidden by the coffee machines. She frowns lightly, and slowly steps up to Danny, eyeing the person warily, before her expression breaks into relief.