Played by the Enemy || Captain America || Book 2

Chapter 12: Ever Tried Shawarma?

          The four of us are congregated around the white kitchen island bench; Twinning's Irish Breakfast tea in my tired hands, coffee in Adelaide and Sam's soft palms, and of course, the typical rusty bronze coloured whiskey in Stark's loose grip.

          I drowsily exhale, my fingers wrapped around the mug attempting to capture the warmth seeping from the steaming drink. "We don't know. Lucas thinks that some of my mother's ovaries could have been frozen before she passed giving birth to me, and that maybe Loki found some voodoo, hoodoo Norse magic to stimulate the egg for nine months after adding his own sperm to the mix without needing mum at all. Otherwise we're clueless, but Lucas also ran some blood tests, and we are sisters, so it's not just speculations."

          "Right, so I leave you for eight months and you almost get turned into a magical all-powerful space stone, obtain an impossible younger sister, get tortured by your wack-job dad who actually turned out to be an all-evil alien overlord hell bent on ruling over everything in existence, annndd you get a belly piercing, a haircut and two tattoos like a rebellious teen, practically giving daddio and Capsicle the middle finger whilst doing it," Tony rushes out like a never ending waterfall, appearing unfazed by it yet slightly dazed. "Do you see why you need me in your life? You know what, just for getting two tattoos, you're grounded young lady. Go straight to your room with no dessert."

          I snort, idly sipping the relieving beverage in my perfectly manicured hands. "Piss off dad, I'm twenty five. I can get a couple tattoos if I want to."

          "She got shot last night as well," Adelaide chimes in, smirking cheekily when I throw her a scathing look and Stark stares at me bewilderedly. I guess that's payback for ignoring her when she warned me not to get into any troublesome situations. Well played Addie, well played.

          "I'm sorry, you got shot? Where? By who? I'll get him fired, evicted, buy him out and build a library or an orphanage on where his house use to be," Stark frighteningly seriously threatens, unblinking eyes hammering down on me for answers.

          I momentarily caustically glimpse at Adelaide in the corner of my eyes. "Mob boss' son. Don't worry, friend of mine took care of it, and on top of that the Horsemen are taking caring of it."

          "You're buddies with them as well?" He accusingly butts in, seeming more than a tad peeved. "You don't happen to be penpals with the President or have gone through time with the Doctor while you're at it, have you?"

          "A lot happens in eight months Tony," I try to reason, shrugging feebly. "But I've answered your questions and given you a full run down of what happened to me in those eight months. So, Mr. Stark, what pray tell happened to you? How are you the only one – besides the Horsemen – to remember us?"

          "Well as you know it wasn't always like that," he staidly begins, his chiselled, goatee jaw clenching and causing a vein to jump temporarily. "I didn't go down the bottle like last time, but the lot of us stopped searching for you after three months. Fury reasoned that our lives couldn't revolve around it; that soldiers will fall and be lost on the battle field or some kind of sappy crap like that. Reluctantly the others did return to their bland, repetitive lives. I of course kept Jarvis alert twenty-four-seven for even the slightest hint of you or HYDRA on the radar. Meanwhile, Cap got up to a lot while you were gone. Didn't pay much attention to it all, but there were murmurs about him teaming back up with his World War II boyfriend and some top-secret species called the Inhumans. A lot happened, but I wasn't in the loop."

          "Inhumans?" I mimic, puzzled. "Never heard of them."

          He scoffs. "Yeah that's kinda the point of the whole 'top-secret' thing. Everything was kicking into a regular cycle of life by the five month mark, until I wake up one morning and have a Back to the Future moment where it's 2014 and Jarvis nor anyone I know seems to remember who you are or even realize we've gone back in time four years. I would say I've lost a few age marks but I never had any." He gingerly swipes his fingertips across his cheeks, preening like a cat.