She took her heels in her hand and went up to her room.
When Emerson was about to close her door, she heard another door open. She looked out and saw Bucky carefully closing his door. He turned around, met her gaze and walked toward her. He was about 20 centimeters away from her and looking down. He cleared his throat and looked up.
"Yes?" asked Emerson
"Um... could we," he stammered "could we never talk about what I said when you were... you know...?"
She narrowed her eyes, thinking, "sure, I don't see why not."
Bucky let out the breath he was holding involuntarily and turned to leave. He stopped, his hand on his doorknob and without facing her said "thank you" before finally opening and closing his door.
She woke up the next morning with her usual nightmare and decided to train since it had been a while. She put on her gym clothes and tied her hair in a messy ponytail. She went to the gym and started straight away by hitting the punching bag. She had music blasting in her ears and had forget to wrapped her hands. An hour later, she stopped and looked at her bleeding knuckles, sighed with a slight shake of her head and walked over to the laptop in the room to load her program.
She had been working on it for a while before her coma and had finished it before as well, which meant she had never been able to test it. She first chose, a medium level to try, and got into position. She closed her eyes to take a deep breath before starting to fight the program. What she had created allowed the pre-chosen person to fight against enemies created by the program itself. The 'bad' people were programmed to fight according to a developed algorithm written by Emerson and tuned to the chosen level.
After half an hour of fighting against such clones, she stopped, proud that her program was working. She walked over to her bottle and drank while looking around, the room was untouched as if she hadn't fought an entire army. She then looked at the clock on the wall and seeing that it was only 5:30, she returned to the punching bag, her favorite part of the gym. After a moment, she heard the door open and without turning around, she greeted Steve.
"Oh sorry, I didn't think anyone would be here so early." he said, ready to leave
"That's okay, I was done anyway." she replied as she headed to the bench
As she sat down, she watched as Steve walked over to the same punching bag she had been on, and with the first blow he threw, the bag ripped open, letting the sand that filled it fall to the ground. Steve looked up at Emerson, a smirk on his face and his hands still in position to punch.
"Oops." she said with a shrug and a smirk
Steve laughed a little and walked over to the ring in the middle of the room. He leaned on the ropes facing Emerson and stared at her for a moment, herself staring at him back, playfully. After a minute, Steve finally spoke up.
"Come fight with me." he demanded
"What if I don't want to?" she retorted
"What? You're afraid you'll lose?"
"Oh no, I just don't want to mess up your pretty face, golden boy." she smirked
"Oh really?" he grinned
Emerson stood up and walked towards him. She walked over to him without breaking eye contact.
"I don't want to hurt you, baby." she said, making a fake pout
"I wouldn't stress about it if I were you."
"Fine," she sighed, rolling her eyes playfully "give me your worst!"
Steve's first blow and first mistake was aimed at Emerson's stomach. Leaving an unprotected gap, she hit him directly in the face, making him stumble back slightly. He gave an annoyed look to the girl standing ready in front of him. This time, he aimed for her head but could only hit the air as she dodged the blow, pivoting to be behind Steve in a split second. And before he realized what was happening, she hit with both feet the back of Steve's knees, making him fall on his back at the same time as she straightened up by pushing on her arms and feet at the same time.
She found herself quickly in front of Steve, in a fighting position, her two hands brought back in a fist near her face protecting both her face and her upper body. It was as if she could predict his every move, even without using her powers. So, when he tried to knock her down by sweeping his feet out from under her, she easily jumped to avoid them. Steve continued the circle he had started until he found himself on his stomach, both arms folded at his head, elbows out. He pushed on his elbows and was up in no time. This time, Steve waited.
They circled for a good minute, reading each other, anticipating the blows to come. Emerson hated to be the first to strike, but she knew from her opponent's rigid, backward posture that he would not make the same mistake a third time. So, she lunged, pretending to go to the right so that he would clear his left side to protect his right, where she could then deliver a powerful kick to his side. Short of breath, Steve retaliated with a direct punch to her head followed by one to her stomach. Emerson dodged the first and found herself on her back, her legs still bent underneath her to avoid the second. She got up effortlessly, her hands still in a defensive position in front of her; she could see that Steve was getting more and more fed up. She smiled without her teeth, which only enraged Steve more, who, as wanted, lunged at her, turning her around and locking her in a firm neck lock. Steve leaned toward her ear and whispered, "not so tough now, are we?"
"On the contrary," she whispered back "you're right where I wanted you to be."
With that, she crushed Steve's foot and tipped her head back until it met his face, then smacked it hard, making him let go of his grip. She crouched down, one leg outstretched and spun around, making Steve fall on his back. For precaution, she put herself at his head level, blocking it, in turn, with a neck lock, her legs wrapped around Steve's body, preventing him from moving.
After a dozen of seconds, he finally hit the mat 3 times and Emerson dropped him immediately, getting up just as quickly. She smiled and reached out to help Steve up. With a grunt, he accepted the handshake and was pulled to his feet. He rolled his eyes when he noticed Emerson's "I told you so" smile. As he opened his mouth to defend himself with any lie he could find, he was interrupted by applause. At the same time, they turned back to the door and saw half of the Avengers standing there looking at them. Steve grunted even more after looking around the group: Tony, Sam, Natasha, Loki and Peter were the ones present. And of course, Stark and Laufeyson were the two applauding. The other three simply had a smirk, which they did not try to hide in any way, their gaze shifting from one to the other.
"It was-" began Peter
"-incredible!" cut off Loki
"That was a hell of a fight!" added Tony
Emerson climbed down from the ring under the ropes and walked towards her bottle. She took a long-deserved sip and looked at the clock: 07:45 am. She had been fighting Steve for almost an hour and a half and yet felt no fatigue. However, her arms and legs hurt even more than before after using them so much in such a short time. She took her things and joined the group that had formed at the entrance. They were talking about the beating that Steve had just taken, all adding their comments while the concerned was trying desperately to defend himself. When she was near them, there was a short silence before the discussion started again, making fun of Steve.
Emerson was quick to notice that he was getting uncomfortable and spoke up, "You know that none of you would be able to defend yourselves as well as Steve did?" The conversation came to a screeching halt and the small group glanced guiltily at Steve before looking at Emerson who opened her mouth again to continue her defense, "I could take any one of you, right now in the ring, I'll still beat you. And in less time than Steve."
She looked at them in turn, each lowering their eyes, avoiding her gaze, "Besides, he's part of your team might I remind you, and he's saved all of you more than once!" she stopped, picked up her bag she'd put down on the way and walked toward the exit "don't do it again. Even if the person doesn't say anything, it may affect them more than you think." With that, she left the room and just before the elevator doors closed, she could hear different apologies addressed to Steve.
As she exited the elevator, determined to quickly get into her room and take a long hot shower, her neighbor's door opened, letting out the famous blonde agent. She walked directly to Emerson and met her halfway between the elevator and her room.
"Hi, I'm Sharon Carter," she introduced herself, holding out her hand "Bucky's girlfriend." she added
"Emerson Parker, nice to meet you." she replied unenthusiastically, pulling away from the overly long grip of the woman before her
They stood there for a good minute before Emerson cleared her throat.
"Well, see you soon." she said, nodding her head, an embarrassed smile on her face
Sharon raised her hand as if she wanted to catch her, but pulled herself together at the last moment and waved. Emerson went back to her room, closed the door and sat down on her bed to untie her shoe laces. As she tossed her shoes somewhere in her room, her door opened abruptly and the agent stomped in. Emerson hadn't moved and she didn't move any further even though Sharon's face was less than an inch from hers. She held her gaze and said in a deeper voice than usual due to the anger she was trying to quell, "I strongly advise you to back off Carter." Sharon stepped back just a few inches and the anger Emerson was feeling was starting to turn her eyes purple. She closed them, took a deep breath and gave her fakest smile as she opened her eyes to face the blonde.
"I'm not afraid of you, you know-" Sharon began only to be cut off
"You should be, though," Emerson replied, standing up, forcing Sharon to back away "you should be afraid of me, Sharon Carter. But you're not here to be threatened by me, are you? What do you want?"
"I'm here to warn you that Sergeant Barnes is my boyfriend," she said, emphasizing the 'my' "and that if you get within inches of him...you don't want to know what I'll do to you."
Emerson let out a laugh from her throat, "Don't tempt me like that, Carter," she smirked "and I'm really not interested in your guy," she added, moving forward forcing Sharon to back away again "if that's all, I'm going to ask you to leave." she added, closing the door in the agent's face without waiting for an answer
If she had felt like opening the door to face Emerson again, Sharon did not and returned to Bucky's room. On her side, Emerson deeply exhaled and undressed, getting into her shower. She turned on the water and felt her shoulders relax as soon as the heat hit her shoulders. She stayed in the shower much longer than expected and when she emerged from her bathroom, her towel wrapped around her chest, she was barely surprised to see Nat and Wanda, sitting on her bed.
"Girls." she greeted
"Hi baby." Nat replied in return
"What are you doing here?" asked Emerson, turning her back on the girls to rummage through her dressing room for something to wear
"We just wanted to see you, chat with friends." Wanda smiled
Emerson did not answer but smiled at them as she went back into her bathroom, she came out a few seconds later wearing only her underwear. Nat whistled as Wanda blushed. Emerson held back a laugh and headed once again to her dressing room.
"I met Sharon," she began, tossing a pair of cream-colored pants onto her bed "she looks completely crazy."
"She is," Nat confirmed as Emerson pulled on a brown sweater over "she's particularly overprotective of Barnes! It's getting frankly unbearable."
"When did you know they were together?" she asked, zipping up the fly
"Um, maybe a week after you left?" hesitated Wanda
"Yeah, that's what it was. A week or two after you left," Nat confirmed "but we already had suspicions."
"How is she with the others?" questioned Emerson, finishing putting on her jewelry and watch
"Umm, it's hard to tell," began Wanda "a lot of times she doesn't even pay attention to us and just sits on Bucky's lap, smooching him."
"Disgusting." Emerson commented, wrinkling his nose
"That you can say, it's like they don't know how to do anything else!" added Nat
"What's wrong?" asked Wanda, sensing Emerson's sudden change in mood
She sighed, "You know I told you about a soldier who was imprisoned with me and I fell in love with."
"Yes, and you told us that he didn't remember you and there was nothing you could do about it..."
"Yea, so maybe I might have lied to you about that," she grimaced "there is a way he could remember me..."
"What's that?" asked Wanda softly
"For him to remember me, I have to kiss him." she murmured
"What!?" exclaimed both girls at the same time
"I know..." she said, looking down at her hands
"But there's something I don't understand," began Nat "you know where he is-"
"-and you know how to make him remember you-" continued Wanda
"-so why haven't you done it yet?" continued Nat
"It's much more complicated than that..." sighed Emerson
"Then explain it to us."
Emerson looked at the two women in front of her, hesitant to tell them the truth.
"Uh...," she began, clearing her throat "it's- I don't know if it's a good idea for me to tell you guys, I'm sorry." she ended up saying, getting up and leaving her room
Standing still in the elevator, Emerson allowed herself to shed a few tears, but as soon as she saw the bottom floor approaching, she wiped them away, and gave a fake smile in the mirror to see how she looked, nodded and got off. As she headed for the exit, she was grabbed by the arm, she turned around ready to throw a violent punch at whoever it was but stopped when she noticed it was Peter and immediately relaxed.
"Sorry, I should have made my presence known." he said, grimacing
"It's okay," she smiled "I'm just on edge right now."
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked
"Sure, let's go." she replied as she headed for the doors again
As soon as Emerson took the first step outside, she shivered as a draft passed through. At first, she wanted to walk around the compound for a while, but she changed her mind seeing the weather and instead decided to go for a hot chocolate. She got on the bus, with Peter at her side. They hadn't exchanged a word yet, except when Emerson suggested they go to a café, which Peter accepted and followed.
Emerson took Peter through the streets of New York and stopped at a café called "The Feeling Bubble". The café had a pastel blue exterior and an old-fashioned but extremely pretty appearance. The interior was filled with greenery, which made the various tables scattered around the room feel cozy. Emerson approached the counter and greeted the beautiful manager who had curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and who responded with a wink and an "as usual?"
"Yes, but with an extra one please, Emily." she replied with a big smile
Emerson looked at Peter and smiled, "You'll see, it's delicious."
Less than 2 minutes later, the two Parkers were sitting face to face, one sitting in a swing chair and the other in a cream-colored rocking chair.
"Wow, this is really good!" commented Peter after his first sip
"I know, right!"
As they began to chat, they enjoyed the cookies Emily had brought minutes earlier. And after a little over half an hour, Peter put down his empty cup and looked at Emerson.
"What?" she asked as she swallowed her last sip
"I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you," he sighed "I-I don't really have any excuses, I shouldn't have said all the things I said to you and-"
"Peter," she cut him off "Peter, look at me."
He slowly raised his head, tears glistening in his eyes.
"It's okay, you don't have to apologize," she said "you had every right to react the way you did."
"Still, you shouldn't have been the one to take my anger..."
"Peter, I'm glad you took it out on me instead of someone else," she replied, grabbing his hand "I would have done the same thing," she paused, breathing in and out deeply "the truth is you reacted better than I did when I remembered..."
"Sometimes I forget that you had to and do remember that..."
" Lucky you for forgetting," she chuckled sadly "anyway, how's it going with MJ?" she asked, shaking her body as if she wanted to get rid of her thoughts
"It's going really well, she makes me happy and really helped me while you were asleep and I love her so much," he smiled "she's incredible..."
"How long have you been together now?"
"A little over 3 months."
"Wow, and is she your first girlfriend?"
"Well, I had this thing with an older girl named Liz, but she had to move out because her dad was a bad guy and ended up in jail," he explained "so yeah, she's my first girlfriend... and I hope she's my last too!"
"Well, I hope so too, she seems like a nice girl."
"She is!"
They continued chatting for over two hours, catching up on everything Emerson had missed while she slept.
"Well, look at the time! We have to get home."
"Oh my gosh, you're right. Besides, I have a date with MJ tonight and I can't be late."
"Go ahead then, I'll pay and go home," she replied; cutting Peter off, she continued "I'm not taking no for an answer. It's 5pm, go get ready and spend the night with MJ."
"GO!" she added when she saw Peter hesitating
Peter got up and jogged out of the café, and as Emerson was piling up the cups, Peter ran back in, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and ran out again, shouting "thanks for everything!". Emerson chuckled softly, shaking her head. She stood up, both cups and plate in her hand, and headed for the bar.
"You know, you can always get your job back here if you want." Emily said, seeing her walk by on the other side
"I can't anymore," she replied, setting it down in the sink "if all goes well, I might take a job offer..."
"Which one? Avenger or Hunter?"
"Avenger," she replied "but I don't know if it's the best choice for me."
"What do you mean you don't know!" Emily replied, raising her voice and lowering it directly after "you'd have your brother, your friends, Tony and your lost love!" she stated, taking a dramatic voice for the last person
"Don't call him that and you know that it's a lot more complicated than that with him, Mimi..." she huffed
"I know, but I don't understand why you won't even tell Natasha and Wanda."
"I don't know." she replied, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation
She turned around, her arms outstretched and leaning on the bar, her back to her best friend. Emily walked over and put her hands around her waist, hugging her.
"You should tell them, mer." she whispered, her cheek against Emerson's back
"I know but-," she turned, engulfing Emily in her arms and resting her chin on the top of her head "what if they see me differently after?"
"For loving someone?" Emily retorted, looking Emerson up in the eyes "for wanting to protect the only person you've ever truly loved, even if it means your unhappiness?"
Emerson looked down and muttered, pouting "I truly love you..."
"I know," she chuckled a little "and I love you too. So, it's for your own good that I'm asking you to tell them. Nothing bad can happen."
Emerson breathed heavily, kissed Emily, and pulled away from her grip. She took out the money and placed it on the counter, looked at Emily and replied, "I promise to tell them by the end of the week."
"It's Friday, you know?"
"I know, that's just it," she smiled a little and walked to the door, she turned and shouted "I'll call you tomorrow, love you!"
"Love you too!"
Emerson pushed open the door and walked out, a bigger smile on her face.
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A/N: Helloooo everyone, once again so sorry for the wait I had a little block on what to do next but here is the rest. I really like this chapter, so I hope you do to :)
Right now, I have to admit that some comments or votes would really cheer me up but anyway. If you have anything that you want to see happening tell me.
Hope you have a good day or night, love you 3000 <3
February 2nd 2022
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