When Arden realized Steve stopped staying at the compound, she started sticking around more. With no one to spar with she went through a few punching bags, her knuckles bruised from hitting it over and over again.
"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who someone really is." Steve's voice echoed in her head.
"You are not to interfere with any human affairs. No wars, no fights, no relationships. You must keep your true identity hidden." Her mother's voice replayed.
"Ah!" Arden shouted, hitting the punching bag hard enough for it to fly across the room.
"Bad time?" A voice appeared into the room.
Arden breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath, turning around slowly.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, unraveling the wrap around her hands.
"Apologizing." Tony answered, walking closer to her, handing her a water bottle.
"You're about 4 months late." She scolded him, pretending to look at her wrist with no watch.
Tony scoffed, nodding, taking a seat on the bench.
"Yeah, well, Pepper wouldn't drag the wheel chair into the car so it took a while for me to come on my own." Tony defended.
"I still don't hear an apology." Arden reminded him, tossing the wrappings in her bag.
"I'm sorry." Tony apologized, Arden raising her brows for more.
"I shouldn't have aired out your secrets like that. It wasn't my place, and I'm sorry." He added.
She hesitated, looking at Tony to make sure he was being sincere and he was. She knew he didn't apologize often, if ever.
"So how are you feeling?" She teased him long enough.
He chuckled, standing to spin around to show her his healthy body.
"A bit thin." She joked.
"I'm working on it." Tony countered.
She tilted her head for him to follow her, and he did. They walked out into the common area to sit down.
"So, any word from your little boyfriend?" Tony brings up.
She sighs, turning on the tv. "Nope. And I don't think he will after your little slip up."
"You try calling him?"
"Yeah, like 100 times." She answered, choosing an episode of Friends.
"Don't look so sad. I brought a gift." Tony smirked, taking a seat next to her.
"Gift? What gift?" Arden asked, turning to him.
He reaches into his pocket, holding up a key.
"Little birdy told me you were looking for somewhere to live." He answered, wiggling the key around.
"You think for being a spy, Nat would keep her mouth shut." Arden laughed.
"So you want it or not?" Tony teased her.
She snatched the key from his hand, playing with it.
"Where is it?" Arden asked.
"Penthouse in the city. You've got tons of toys to play with." He smirked.
"Oh, a little hand-me-down?"
Tony scoffed. "Absolutely not. She's brand new. I needed something to do while you were gone and not annoying me, so I worked."
"You were hoping I was going to come back." Arden smiled.
"Yeah, well who was going to force me to eat my greens?" Tony joked.
They went to go check out the place, Arden couldn't keep a smile off her face the entire time touring. Tony wasn't kidding about the toys, he knew she loved it just as much as he did.
"Damn, I should have moved back sooner." She complimented.
"Yeah, well, Pepper and I are going to need somewhere nice to stay when we visit." Tony commented.
She turned quickly, furrowing her brows at him.
"We're leaving. Almost dying in space made me want to live my life with Pepper. Take the next step and all." Tony explained.
"Where?"
"There's a cute little cabin in Georgia." He answered.
"I doubt that it's little." Arden teased him. "I'm happy for you guys."
"You're welcome anytime. I'm sure Pepper is going to go crazy with me as her only company." Tony insisted.
"Don't blame her there." Arden commented.
"Just talk to him. He'll understand." Tony advises her. "I'm off to finish packing."
"You mean watch Pepper pack."
"Yeah, well, someone's got to." He jokes back, waving her off.
The next few weeks Arden spent adjusting to her new home, checking in with Tony when she could. Helping them pack and move into their new cozy, Stark stacked cabin. With Steve not returning her calls, she let him be. Gave him all the space and time he needed until he wanted to talk to her. So when she knew he wasn't at the compound, she went to go visit Nat.
"Leftover pasta as requested." Arden announced herself, dropping the tupperware onto the table.
Nat smirked, opening the box and throwing it in the microwave. After contacting Nebula, Rocket and Okoye, they settled on the couch with a bottle of wine and another box of pizza.
"How's Tony?" Nat asked.
Arden sighed, chugging her glass. "He's settling in with Pepper."
"I thought he would go off the rails after losing the kid." Nat brought up, mentioning Peter Parker.
"He's doing the best he can considering he has bigger things to think about now." Arden replied.
Nat sat up, furrowing her brows at Arden.
"Pepper's pregnant." Arden answered, smiling.
"Really? Oh, that's amazing." Nat praised.
"I could feel it instantly. I kept quiet until Tony told me himself." Arden added. "The feeling of a pregnancy, the joy and love I felt from their energy alone was intoxicating. I've never felt anything like it."
Nat smiled at her words, the light energy that has been missing for months now.
"Speaking of children." Nat teased, changing the subject. "Steve came by yesterday."
"How is he?" Arden shifts in her seat.
"Avoiding his problems. Normal hurt men things."
"Let me guess, you lectured him." Arden chuckled.
Nat smirked, filling her glass. "You know me too well."
"I don't want to force him to talk to me. He has every right to be mad and upset."
Arden got up, putting her jacket on to leave.
"We need to stick together. And we can't do that when he's throwing a fit." Nat argued.
"Call me if anything new happens." Arden added.
After leaving, she headed straight to a boxing gym, peeking in the window in the back alley. She went every week to check on Steve. She found him there trailing him one day, seeing him come every day to release his emotions. Going through punching bags like she's done before.
She waited until he was finished, watching him walk out the front door when a cat appeared by her foot, meowing at her.
"Shoo, kitty." Arden whisper yelled, turning back to watch Steve, when he jerked around.
"Is anyone there?" Steve asked aloud, looking through the alley.
Arden hid behind the wall, resting her head against the wall as she heard footsteps coming near her.
"Invisique." She whispered, and watched as Steve turned the corner, looking directly at the wall she was leaning against but was oblivious that she was there from her spell.
She saw the toll everything was taking on him. The bags under his eyes, his hair grown out, and the beard that was growing on the lower part of his face. Once he saw that no one was there, he turned back and left on his motorcycle.