Safe & Sound: A Marvel Universe Fan-Fic (Avengers & X-Men)

Chapter Six: Lockdown

“Yes, sir.” Steve nodded. I rolled my eyes and watched the three slither out of my room. I heard the door click lock and sighed. Off to my side, Captain stirred. I watched him look around my room. His eyes danced from one hand painted wall to the other and then up at the ceiling with all the twinkling lights. He didn’t he say a word, so I spoke.

“I feel like I’ve been grounded.” I chuckled. “Believe it or not, back when I was actually a teenager, I was the good kid. I was never grounded ever. Now look at me.”

I laughed hoping to dissolve some of the tension. Steve, Mr. America himself, ran a tanned hand through his thick blonde hair and continued his inspection on my room. I frowned feeling a ping of pain from being ignored.

“You did all this?” He asked after a beat. So I was right, he hadn’t heard a single word I’d spoken. I slinked back to the hammock in the far side of the room and plopped down.

“Well, yeah.” I smiled. “Painting’s kind of a hobby of mine. It’s not like I’m super talented or anything. It’s just something I do that calms me. Locking me up for three days, I had to do something to keep me sane. So, ta-da!”

I fell on my back and stared up at the ceiling. Steve followed my gaze and crammed his hands back into the pockets of his loose fitted blue jeans.

“It’s really impressive, Miss Marla. The sky, that’s my favorite part.” He pointed a finger upward and grinned. “It must’ve taken forever.”

“You have no idea.” I laughed. “I couldn’t seem to get the color exactly right. You guys didn’t really give me a lot to work with, though. I shouldn’t have been surprised at how little paint you had on the ship, but I was.”

He nodded and motioned to sit next to me. I rolled over on my side allowing a small piece of the hammock for him to sit on. The bed rocked with his weight, but slowed after a minute. He couldn’t seem to meet my gaze as he traced his fingers over my bed.

“Why a hammock?” He asked softly. I shrugged.

“A huge chunk of my life involved constantly being on the run from Magneto.” I explained. “I was always outside, sleeping under the stars. I’m a moonchild, I guess. When I look at the stars and see them and the moon smiling down at me, I feel like God himself is grinning at me and telling me everything’s going to be ok. He’s in control. And I find comfort in that.”

“So that’s why you painted your room like this: the ceiling as the night sky and the walls as a forest.” He paused and saw the silhouettes I’d painted and pointed a finger at them. “May I ask who those people are?”

I felt my cheeks warm and nodded. “My family. The big guy is my brother Davis. Take note on his big, bulky head. The slender girl next to him with long raven hair is my sister, Clara, who was just returned today for God-knows-where. And the littlest girl is Jolene, whom you’ve had the pleasure of meeting on several different occasions.”

Steve dropped his head to his hands and started twiddling his thumbs. I cocked my head off to one side and looked at him confused. The guilt and sadness drenched his entire frame and started soaking into me. I tried to shake the depression away, but it was too great. I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it tight. He turned and looked at me all teary eyed. My heart sank.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured. “I never get emotional like this.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“You have to understand.” He said pulling out of my grip. “I understand how you’re feeling better than anyone, miss. Everyone I cared about is dead.”

I shook my head no. “Not everyone.” I whispered. “Steve, I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through, but you’re neglecting to notice the relationships you’ve built up. It’s like me and the X-men. When Pyro killed my parents and I was forced to run away from home, I thought I’d lost everything. I wasn’t sure if my siblings were dead or alive, so I kept running hoping to find some kind of answer to their existence. I was tossed around like a prize from mutant to mutant and then, low and behold, Gambit and Rogue found me and thus my legacy began. They became my new family just like the Avengers have become yours. Don’t take them for granite even for a second and always keep your family close to your heart.”

I placed a hand over his chest for emphasis and smiled. He looked at me stunned.

“How do you do it?” He asked. “It’s obvious you miss them, but you’re still optimistic.”

“Well it’s only be a couple of days.” I chuckled. His face remained indifferent. I retracted my hand and placed it back into my lap. “But I get what you mean. It’s hard to be optimistic, especially right now. Clara was just returned to me, and I can’t even be there for her. Even though our situations are so similar, they’re also very different. Knowing someone’s dead and not knowing is crazy. As terrible as it sounds, I wished Clara was dead just so I could know she was in a better place. Do you know what that’s like?” He shook his head no. I sighed. “But on the other end of the spectrum, we both need to keep moving forward. We have to remember and respect the past for what it was, but we also have to be optimistic in the future and do the best we can to be the best we can be.”

He shook his head in pure disbelief and sighed. “Miss Marla, you are truly an inspiration. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to adjust to this bold new world. But you’re absolutely right, ma’am. I have to look to the future. I’ll never be happy until I do that.”

I grinned wider. “That’s the spirit!” I chirped, but inside, I felt myself growing confused. I’d never placed myself in his shoes. He was always such a boy scout in my mind. I saw him as something more than human. An idol. But he wasn’t. He was human, just like me. Trying to figure out the life God had blessed him with. I rolled away from him and cocooned myself into my covers. Now it was the Captain’s turn to be confused.

“Miss Marla, is everything alright?” He asked sweetly. I cleared my throat.

“Yeah.” I whispered. “I just hadn’t noticed how tired I was.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. I couldn’t remember when the last time I’d slept was, but if I were to be honest, it wasn’t my tiredness that was getting to me. It was how awkward I was beginning to feel around the Captain. Now that he had fallen from his pedestal, I was beginning to realize I might be falling for him. Not like when I was little and Wolverine told me stories about his heroic friend and I had a small crush on him, but like a real connection. I didn’t want to have to deal with it, especially when Gambit was on his way to see me now. I couldn’t allow myself to get attached.

“Would would you like some privacy?” He asked, it was something Remy would have never asked. Captain was a true gentleman. Even though he was supposed to be looking out for me, he still noticed that I was a woman and liked to be alone. A small smile crept across my face. I shook my head yes.

“Please.” I muttered back. “I have blankets and another hammock in the closet, if you’d like me to make you up another bed I’d be more than happy to do it.”

“No, allow me.” He said. I didn’t have to look at him to know he was already on his feet rummaging around the closet. My heart fluttered inside of my chest. I didn’t want to like him at all. I had the worst taste in men, but Captain, he seemed like a sweetheart. And we had similar scars in pasts. I couldn’t ignore that. I was happy. Happy for tonight. But it was bittersweet. Captain could never love a girl like me.