Star Dust (A Paladin Adventure)

Progress

I was listening to Steve and Bucky talking about the UN negotiations--it was shaping up to be a sensible compromise between those who wanted supers locked away and the key thrown away and no restrictions at all. Lots of room to work there, and they were working on restrictions on supers in war zones and civil wars (aid to be limited to humanitarian aid, which opened up some nice possibilities for those with mutations that weren't combat-related) as well as an order of operations, beginning with negotiations and non-lethal options before deadly force could be used. The negotiations wouldn't have to be extensive, but a sincere attempt to talk down the villains. I thought that it might be the most successful with newbie baddies, because experienced ones weren't going to be dissuaded from their plans easily. Steve was moaning about it, though.

"If you can show normal people that you're considering the effects that you guys have on them, they're more likely to give you a pass on death and destruction," I said yawning. "It'll reinforce perceptions of who the bad guys really are.

"You guys?" Bucky said pointedly. I squirmed.

"I'm not an Avenger anymore," I said, cutting hairs, and he smirked. Steve looked between us, apparently accepting my reasoning, and let it drop.

All of a sudden I broke out into severe sweating and I started to shake from the chill. Torburn sat up and the AI actually chirped. "It appears that your fever has broken, Emma. Please confirm with the thermometer." It had; my temperature was down to 99, which the AI said was acceptable. Without a word, Bucky picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. Steve's eyes narrowed. I waited til Bucky came back with new clothes for me before running the shower. When I came out (Bucky had given me his T-shirt to wear, the one with the holes in the arm, it just smelled like the laundry detergent) Steve was leaving with the sheets and Bucky was making the bed.

Like he was punishing the sheets, the top sheet was stretched as tightly as a drum head. He frowned at it and tried again to make it even tighter. "Um...Bucky, thank you so much for making the bed. I just don't think I'll be able to get my feet  down there if that sheet gets any tighter."

"That fitted sheet is messing things up," he fretted.

"The mattress is probably too soft," I said, trying to make a little joke. He looked like something had gone wrong but it hadn't. The only thing in the room that was tight enough to bounce a quarter on was his abs. Or his butt. I looked up from the sheets to see his big eyes. "Oh, shit, did I say that out loud?" I gasped, turning red.

We were saved from melting into a flaming puddle of awkwardness by the sound of Steve on the stairs and Bucky flicked the blanket over the sheets. I stepped away and raised the towel to my hair. Steve took the towel from my hand and took over. I let him; I was feeling superawkward. After Bucky efficiently put the new pillowcases on, he flicked down the sheet. Turndown service. Nice.

"If you ever get tired of Avenging, you could open a B&B," I said as I slid into bed. The sheets forced my feet  to flex like I had pointe shoes on, but I said not a peep. I waited until Torburn settled in and the men left to kick my feet free.

That night was the first time in what seemed like a very long time that I slept through uninterrupted. I felt quite a lot better when I woke up. Sam brought me breakfast--orange juice and hash browns and an Egg McMuffin from McDonalds. He was enthusiastic about my fever having broken but concerned about the headaches, which lingered. "I think I should go to the doctor," I said, and he grinned at me.

"Glad you're being sensible."

"I try," I said. "I wanted to thank you for your help. I don't remember a lot, but you probably saved my life. Loki said I was passed out when they found me."