La Petite Fleur

Guérison 1

The last lights were extinguished and the applause broke out. The bows began and were over in a minute or two. When the audience was allowed to exit, he met Antoinette by the door to the back room.

"That was great," he told her. "Fanciful, but well done."

She beamed up at him, and he could tell she was thoroughly pleased with the performance. "And no attempts on my life either," she added.

He chuckled. "Nope."

Unable to smile any wider, she released a breathy laugh and twirled in place, positively overflowing with joy. When she'd come full circle, she bounced on her toes with pure girlish excitement. In spite of the burdens weighing on his mind, Steve found himself laughing and smiling with her.

"Antoinette! Arrêtez taquiner l'homme," a fellow dancer dressed in green laughed, joining them. Antoinette's face turned a shade of rose pink that stood out against the shimmery ivory stage makeup. She sucked in a breath and stared at the ground, fighting to hold in her giggles. "Coupable?" the dancer in green added, expression teasing and playful.

Antoinette bumped her friend with her shoulder and her face turned a darker pink. "What'd she say?" he asked her.

She bit her bottom lip before answering, "I will..." She glanced sideways at her friend's smug expression. "I will tell you later." He narrowed his eyes in good-natured suspicion before nodding and letting her leave to change.

When she returned to the spot where he had stood to wait, he told her that he had to return to base. Fury had given him instructions to leave out the fact that 'base' for him was the Helicarrier in case she connected the dots and figured out the truth. As soon as she heard, she nodded and bid him goodbye.

Reims, April-

Steve was packed and ready before the director delivered the message. When the permission came, he was on board the helicopter and taking off within five minutes. True, he had only seen Antoinette last week, but the time had been so short.

When he arrived in the city, he checked into the hotel and abandoned his unpacked suitcase inside the locked room. The theater was just inside reasonable walking distance, so he set off on the cheery spring afternoon.

This time when she saw him, Antoinette grinned. The performance would be beginning soon so she had no time to chat but he didn't mind. They could always talk afterwards. And when the ballet was finished, he met her backstage to do just that.

As she laughed with her friends in the confined hallway, he picked his way carefully toward her. When they were in Paris, she would have pulled him aside, but now she simply made room for him beside her. What's changed? he thought. She's acting so different. Not strange exactly, but odd. She was never like this before.

When the other dancers had left them alone together, he spoke first, "Meet me out front when you're finished, alright?"

"Mhm," she agreed before darting away to change.

He left the cramped hallway and returned to the sunbathed sidewalk. A pleasant breeze tousled his hair and tugged at his shirt. The breeze felt great with the warming sunshine and mildly humid air. Today was beautiful and it seemed a shame to waste it, so when Antoinette appeared beside his shoulder, he invited her for a walk with him. She agreed and they set off with no destination in mind. Their only goal was to enjoy the day and each others' company. Steve tried to keep up the conversation and even attempted teasing her at one point, but she balked from any form of discussion. Finally, when she wouldn't answer a harmless question about her ballet friends, he halted and spun to face her.