A/N: Hey guys! I released this chapter early! I am making a Christmas special for this book! I don't have much else to say other than enjoy this chapter!
- Harper E. Pierce
It had been almost three months since Bucky had left. Steve had been on the phone with T'Challa constantly, checking in on Bucky and his progress. He was already out of cryo-freeze, and Shuri was working on getting the remnants HYDRA's brainwashing out of his head. The air was beginning to freeze in New York, and it was nearing December.
"Steve, he is doing alright. So far, Shuri's been experimenting with our ways of getting it out of his head. So far it's almost gone. He'll be back by Christmas." T'Challa told him over the phone.
"That's good. Is there anything I can do to help?" Steve asked for assurance.
"Yes, I'd like you to answer a question. Bucky's been doing great with the treatments and recovery, but something seems to be on his mind and he's not telling anyone about it. Do you have any idea what it could be? We know it's not HYDRA related, he seems to get all anxious when Shuri and I ask."
"Anxious? About something that isn't HYDRA related? I can't think of anything at the moment."
"Hmm... it's been puzzling us too. Shuri's created him a new metal arm already. He hasn't tried yet though. We're waiting on a him to recover a little before he goes back to you guys."
"Thanks for the update, your highness." Steve thanked him.
"No need for the formalities, Steve. We're friends. No problem. I'll see you soon," T'Challa hung up the phone, and looked out into the distance. "Bucky, what aren't you telling us?"
-
"Raven, I need you to be honest with me. I need to know if you still love me. If you don't I'll- dammit. How do I do this?" Damon sighed to himself. With the lack of time Raven was spending with him, he was beginning to think the worst case scenarios. But he knew for a fact that she wasn't telling him something. And it was beginning to tear them apart.
Suddenly, the door to Damon's apartment opened and his dark haired girlfriend was home for the first time in over a month. He immediately went up and kissed her, but he noticed a cut on her lip. And on beside her eye. She wasn't overly bruised on her face, thank god, but he wasn't sure about her body.
"Hey- what the hell happened to you?" He asked darkly.
"What do you mean?" She asked as if she had no idea.
"I mean, you face is all cut up! Who the hell did that to you?"
"No one Damon!" "Damnit, Skylar! I told you heal me up completely! Natasha's training leaves marks!" She thought.
"Someone had to have done that to you, Rave. Don't lie to me," he snapped. He was beginning to get frustrated with her constant lying.
"Damon, no one did that to me. It's okay. Can't we just watch movies on the couch and cuddle?" She pleaded.
"Raven, I'm fed up with the lies. For the past year and a half, you've only been home about a dozen times. If you're cheating on me, just tell me and I'll leave you alone. Just tell me the truth!" He demanded.
"Damon, what the hell? I'm not cheating on you!" She said back.
"Then what have you been doing? Because I'm not buying this whole job thing! I haven't seen you come home with a paycheque once!"
"I do have a new job! I'm not lying!"
"Then do give me an explanation of your job. Enlighten me."
"I-I... I work with the criminally insane. I need to live at the hospital because I need to be on call of the time!" Raven was on the verge of tears. She knew that she was ripping their relationship apart.
"You stutter when you're lying. For Christ's sake, just tell me the truth!"
"That is the truth! I can't deal with this right now," she ran out of the apartment with all of her stuff. The door slammed behind her. And she left in tears. She drove her car back to Avengers' Tower and slammed the door to her room behind her. She knew that what she was doing wasn't right, but she needed to protect him. Even if it meant that he'd hate her, she couldn't drag him into the life she now lived.
Damon slid against the door in frustration. He couldn't keep doing this. He loved her, but at this rate, his fear of losing her was beginning to become his reality.
-
"How did you even get my number?" Quinn growled into the phone. It was two o'clock in the morning and Quinn was desperately trying not to wake anyone up.
"Quinn, you may have done a good job hiding, but remember this: I taught you everything you know. I will always be able to find you." A voice on the other end of the phone threatened.
"What do you want from me?" She sighed.
"I want you back. We all do."
"My answer will always be no. Can't you understand? I don't want that life anymore!"
"And you know that we don't take no for an answer."
"Screw you!"
"Watch that tone with me, Quinn!"
"You don't own my life anymore! So take that stupid request and shove it up your ass!" She quickly hung up the phone. In a fit of rage, she whipped the phone at the wall, making it shatter into a million pieces. She began to sob. Then she threw a glass of water at the same spot. She began knocking down furniture, a chair was thrown across the room and a glass table was shattered. A tall muscular blonde ran into the room in his pyjamas, his hair all messy and frazzled.
"Quinn!" He shouted, but she didn't hear him, and continued to throw things. He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders, whipping her around to face him. She started at him, her face makeup stained and wide eyed. Then she began to sob even more, dropping to her knees, the bottle of whiskey she had still in her hand.
"Quinn, are you okay?" He asked, his voice laced with concern, kneeling down to her level.
"Yes I'm fine, genius, I'm sitting here crying for nothing!" She shot back angrily.
"Quinn, you're drunk. Put the bottle down," he told her, "Jesus Christ, did a bomb go off in here?"
"I'll put the bottle down when I want to put it down!" She yelled at him through sobs. She took a couple of gulps of the drink before throwing the bottle at the wall, letting it shatter, and th remnants of the drink were on the floor. She then stood up and began throwing other things across the room. Tony was going to kill her for literally destroying her room.
"Quinn put down the damn chair!" In response, that chair was thrown at him, and he had to block it from causing him harm. Before she could do any more damage to the room, he picked her up over his shoulder.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She shouted as he threw her on her bed, pinning her arms down using his hands. He was now on top of her, his grip strong enough that she couldn't break free, but gentle enough so he wouldn't hurt her.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU CAN'T KEEP GETTING DRUNK AND/OR DESTROYING THINGS WHEN YOU GET UPSET. COOL IT!" He shouted. This shut Quinn up immediately. She was now panting from all of the crying and destruction she had caused. He panted heavily, praying she wouldn't continue. He stared into her eyes, which were glassy from crying, but still gorgeous. Her lips were not curved into their usual mischievous smirk, but they were pouty from her sad state. Her lavender and baby blue hair was messy from her fingers pulling at it. Steve had never seen this side of her. The vulnerable, sad, honest side. Looks like Lexi didn't take all of the pain away. She opened her mouth to say something, something he prayed would be along the lines of 'I've calmed down now'.
"I never took you for dominant." She smirked at him. It took him a second, but he got it, and rolled his eyes at her. Close enough. He got off of her, sitting up on her bed, still facing her. She sat up as well, facing him. She shifted uncomfortably in her position, knowing what his next question was going to be. "I guess you deserve an explanation to what just happened," she refused to meet his blue-green eyes. She knew she had to lie, there was no way she could tell Steve what had just happened.
"I'm just concerned. You've been getting drunk a lot lately, it's been a little- what's that faint skunky smell?" He asked. Oops. Her might've still smelled like the last thing she had... used.
"I don't smell anything." She denied.
"... okay then." He shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Anyways, are you okay?"
"Yeah.... I just- I received a call from my- boyfriend. Yeah, he just dumped me, and I'm really upset about it." She thought that'd be believable enough.
"Oh... I'm really sorry. That sucks," he replied awkwardly. "And you react like that? Jeez, that must be some guy... or maybe-"
"Tony's going to kill me for this," she looked around the room and half-smiled. Steve chuckled a little.
"Depending on which one of his bottles of whiskey you just broke, he might kill you for that too." He said. She looked down at the sheets on the bed and bit her lip softly. All thoughts of Sharon were immediately forgotten. He focused only on her. A sudden and inexplicable thought of kissing her crossed his mind, the feeling of acting on it being even stronger. His heart was practically beating out his chest. He couldn't understand why he was so drawn to her. She usually wasn't the type of girl he'd like. She was impulsive, unpredictable, didn't follow orders and she said whatever was on her mind. She was a wild and free spirit who couldn't be tamed. She was... she was Quinn Atkinson.
"Careful with your thoughts, Rogers. I can read your mind," she smirked at him for the thought that his mind had. He immediately looked away from her, attempting to hide a red face. She giggled a little, before gently placing a hand on his cheek and directing his face back to hers. Her eyes may have been bloodshot from a combination of crying and smoking weed, but her eyes never left his. A minute of silence was shared between the two of them, Quinn's face leaning in closer to Steve's. He also slowly leaned in before realizing how close their faces really were. Just as the gap was about to close between them, Steve stopped.
"Quinn stop. I can't do this to you," he hung his head, knowing the response she was going to have wasn't going to be a nice one, "I'm not going to take advantage of you in this state," he added.
"But I don't care." She replied.
"No, Quinn. First, you're drunk, and that's not legal,"
"When has legal ever been my style?"
"Second, you're upset. Your boyfriend just dumped you, and I'm not going to be a rebound." He told her, getting up to leave the room.
"Wait," she said softly, looking shameful. He turned back to face her, "can you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?" She looked sad and pleading, the puppy eyes she was using getting to him.
"Fine," he agreed. She got under the covers and closed her eyes. He laid on the other side of the bed, resting his head and shoulders on the headboard, waiting for her to fall asleep, being overly careful not to touch her. Her back was turned to him, and she was hugging her pillow. He was rigid and felt uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"Jeez, it doesn't take Lexi to tell how awkward you're being, even if I can't see you." She snarked from her spot. He shifted a little more in his spot, his head now resting on the pillow beside her. He got comfortable in his position, eventually accepting his fate. It didn't take long before his eyelids began to droop, and he fell asleep beside Quinn.
-
The next morning was a very different one than usual. Skylar was awake first, at her usual seven o'clock. Instead of getting dressed, she immediately put her messy hair in a bun and walked outside to get her coffee and watch some TV. That was probably the only normal thing about that morning. She sat on the couch, watching the news when someone with long, dark hair came out of the elevator, and plopped on the couch with her.
"Loki, what are you doing here?" She asked him. No one other than the girls from the floor below them came to their floor at this time of morning.
"I was bored, my brother is still in his peaceful slumber." He replied. He was dressed in what looked like normal clothing rather than his traditional Asgardian clothes. Except he was wearing an all black suit and tie.
"Why do you look so fancy?" She giggled a little at the time of day he was wearing such clothing.
"Is this not what you Midgardians wear on a day-to-day basis?" He asked.
"Not really- well, sort of. Most people wear this kind of clothing to dinner or to work, in an office building. When you walk on the street, people usually wear jeans and t-shirts."
"Oh. My mistake. But anyway, what are you up to? I have no one to have any fun with,"
"Well, I've just been watching a tv show, called Game of Thrones."
"What is this tv show you speak of?"
"You know what a tv is, right?"
"Yes, it's a form of magic I am not familiar with. It an object that lets human see moving pictures at their command."
"... sure, let's go with that. A tv show is a series of episodes containing moving pictures on a tv."
"What are episodes?"
"Episodes are like mini-movies. Except they all fall under the same plot of one story,"
"So this Game of Thrones, it's a tv show?"
"Yes. If you want to start watching tv shows, you might not want to start with this one. It harder to follow than many others." She clicked the remote to another channel. Friends was on another channel, and that was definitely going to be easier for Loki to follow than a show like Game of Thrones.
"What does that object with buttons do?" Loki gestured to the remote.
"It enables you to change channels on the tv. Channels are tv stations that show different content, like movies or other tv shows or the news."
"Okay. What is the name of the tv show we are watching right now?"
"It's called Friends. This is the first episode, so you'll get the jist of it," she said. In an hour and a half, they had already watched four episodes and Loki was hooked. He refused to let Skylar even touch the remote. Someone else stepped out of the elevator, except this person was tall blonde version of Loki. He was in no suit, but in pyjamas.
"You... have you kidnapped my brother?" Thor asked Skylar .
"Have you kidnapped my poptarts?" Tori suddenly appeared behind Thor and scowled at his presence on her floor.
"What? No! He just showed up on our floor an hour and a half ago!" Skylar replied
"Yes, brother. I have been invested in a tv show called Friends during your slumber." Loki added. Thor looked very confused, but looked back to Skylar.
"So you finally were able to show my brother how to work the TV?" Thor asked her.
"So you know how to work the tv, but he doesn't?" Skylar asked in response.
"He hasn't been on Earth in almost four years,"
"Why didn't you show him the first time?"
"He was taking over New York the last time he was here," Thor told her honestly
"Sounds... fun." Skylar's eyes widened, unsure of her response.
"Oh it was-"
"Until Banner kicked the shit out of you!" Thor cackled. Skylar giggled a little as well.
"I am not in need of reminding," Loki grumbled, continuing to watch the show he had been so invested in.
"Um, hello?! Where's my damn Poptarts?" Tori waved a hand in Thor's face.
"I'll never tell you," he replied darkly. Tori growled and disappeared in front of him, and he frantically began looking around. "Where'd she just go?" A sudden battle cry was heard out of nowhere when Tori ran up and jumped on his back, suddenly turning visible again. Pounding on his back for answer.
"TELL ME WHERE MY POPTARTS ARE! THOSE WERE THE THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR LIMITED EDITION S'MORES WITH GOLD FLECKS ONES! I BOUGHT THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PACK!" She screeched. Loki and Skylar shot up and backed away from the living room. Thor threw Tori off his back onto the couch, knocking over Skylar's empty coffee mug and shattering it. She climbed back over the top of the couch, making the couch fall backwards.
"NEVER!" He shouted back and ran off towards the elevator. She chased after him, catching his arm before he get inside, and threw him back.
"TELL ME NOW!"
"THEY'RE IN A BETTER PLACE NOW!"
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" She charged at him. Before she could get to him, Peter jumped in between them and held them both by their shirts.
"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP?!" He yelled at both of them.
"GET YOUR GODDAMN HANDS OFF OF ME PARKER!" Tori struggled to get out from his grip, but even with one hand he was able to hold her down.
"CALM DOWN, TORI!" He screamed over top of her, making the entire floor fall into a silence. He took a deep breath before continuing. "What the hell is all of this screaming about?"
"He stole my Poptarts! Now let me-" Tori struggled again, but Peter wasn't letting go.
"Really?! You're fighting over Poptarts? So there's a couch on its side and a shatter mug because of a stupid goddamn box of Poptarts?!"
"Poptarts are freaking delicious!" Thor defended their altercation.
"THOSE POPTARTS WERE THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS!"
"WHO IN THEIR RIGHT FREAKING MIND PAYS THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A BOX OF POPTARTS?!"
"Tori does," Lexi appeared out of her room, rubbing her eyes, "why's the couch flipped over? I wanted to sit on it, and you know... drink my tea!"
"Ask idiots one and two over there!" Loki shot back.
"Excuse me, I am NOT an idiot! I have a-"
"Multi-billion dollar business. Yes Tori, we know. It's shocking that we know, isn't it?" Skylar cut her off with an eye-roll.
"Thor, give her back her Poptarts are before she rips someone's head off. Skylar will get you new ones." Loki told his brother.
"What? No! You can get him new ones, you ass!" Skylar shoved him.
"I better be getting some Poptarts from someone!" Thor shouted.
"Give me back mine and I'll get you a box of whatever kind you want!" Tori settled with a bargain, still seething that he stole hers.
"Deal," Thor agreed, "the Poptarts are in the kitchen on my floor. They haven't been opened yet,"
"Thank god." Tori breathed out dramatically.
"See? Nothing a little bargain can't solve!" Peter chimed in, letting go of their shirts.
"Shut up, kid!" Everyone snapped at the same time.
-
Meanwhile, on the floor below where all the ruckus was going on, the only thing that was making a noise was Tris, waking up early at around seven thirty to do work on the girls' suits, as she usually did when they weren't forced to do training at all hours of the morning. Much like Skylar, she was also an early bird.
The girl got up to grab her coffee, when she passed Quinn's room. The door was cracked open, which never happened unless Quinn was watching Netflix on her computer at one in the morning. There was no way she'd be awake, Quinn didn't ever wake up until, at the very least, eight o'clock.
"Quinn?" Tris called softly. No answer, she was likely still asleep. But once again, the door was open. "Quinn? If you don't answer, I'm coming in." Still nothing. Tris slowly pushed open the door. Her eyes widened to what she saw in the room.
First of all, there was glass literally everywhere. You couldn't walk around in that room without cutting your feet unless you wore shoes. And furniture, like the chairs and coffee table, were destroyed. Along with the glass, there was wood everywhere. The glass coffee table had no top, and one of the legs was completely broken off. One chair was beat up, but still intact on one side of the room, while the other had no back to it, just the seat with chipped legs.
The second thing was the smell of the room and the stains on the wall. It smelled very strongly of alcohol, and even slightly of marijuana. The walls had darkened spots of splatter in various places, one of spots having a piece of a broken bottle in the wall, while its remnants were on the floor next to it.
But it was the last thing that freaked Tris out the most. On the bed, she saw Quinn sleeping peacefully- on top of the chest of an also sleeping Steve. His arms were wrapped around her, and her right leg was draped over of his. With that, Tris raised her arms in defeat and walked out of the room, leaving the door to its original state. She didn't want to know anything about what had happened the previous night. All she did know was that Tony was going to literally kill them for the destruction done to the room.
She went to the kitchen to grab her extremely strong coffee, attempting to get the images out of her mind of what she thought had happened. She decided that before she went down to the lab that she was to have a bite to eat; her stomach had been telling her to do so. Just as she was in the middle of cooking her breakfast, Raven came from her room.
"Good morning," Raven greeted her, causing her to jump.
"Jesus, don't scare me like that! I have a frying pan in my hand!" Tris scowled, continuing to cook.
"What's for breakfast?" The shapeshifting one of them asked her.
"Whatever you're making," Tris replied.
"God, you sound like my mom," Raven rolled her eyes, "anyone else up yet?"
"No, Lorelei's not going to be up for another half-hour, and Quinn... well she's a state of affairs I don't want to think about as I'm cooking my breakfast."
"What did she do to annoy you this time?" Asked Raven, completely oblivious to the implication Tris had made.
"She didn't annoy me. It's just- if you're so curious, go check her room and see for yourself."
"Do I want to?"
"I highly doubt it." Tris said quickly, attempting to get the conversation over with. The girls bantered a little more. Raven and Tris had just started eat their breakfast Lorelei came down to the kitchen.
"Did you see Quinn's room?" Lorelei asked them in bewilderment.
"Lorelei, please. I'm still eating," Tris replied, putting her fork down in disgust.
"Sorry," Lorelei apologized.
"I haven't seen it," Raven replied, "nor do I want to. But now you're making me even more curious."
"Put it this way; it looks like a bomb went off in there. Literally," Lorelei told her.
-
It felt as if a bunch of elephants were stampeding on Quinn's head. The light was bright when her eyes fluttered open, and she couldn't see anything for a minute. She didn't really want to move, she was very comfortable and warm where she was. Her eyes adjusted as much as they could to the brightness of the room. Then she finally made out what it was that was keep her warm. Or more like who.
"What the hell?" Her eyes widened, despite the brightness, as she shot up from her spot. She looked back to see the sleep form of Steve Rogers. Man he's so cute when he's sleeping. Then she looked down under the cover at herself. "Pyjamas are still on. Thank god." She breathed a sigh of relief. Steve shifted uncomfortably and his eyes fluttered open.
"Good morning," he said to her, no signs of a hangover showing at all. Her pounding headache suddenly got worse a moment, so she laid back down. "Hangover?"
"No shit sherlock," she grumbled.
"You're a super soldier, your hangover can't be that bad."
"I had some of the Asgardian stuff too."
"Oh... quit drinking so much," Steve told her, "do you even remember anything that happened from last night?"
"Not really. It's all very fuzzy."
"Sit up and look around." He told her. She did exactly that, and her eyes widened at the sight.
"I'm deducing two things right now. One, I was angry and drunk last night. Two, you and I are extremely rough in the sheets."
"Please never let me hear the second set of words come out of your mouth again."
"Sorry, just telling you as it is."
"It was definitely not the latter. FRIDAY told me of what was going on, and I came rushing downstairs."
"What did I do?"
"From when I was here, you first threw a bottle at the wall after telling me that you'll put the bottle down when you want to. Then you proceeded to throw a chair at me,"
"Jesus Christ,"
"I'm not done. After that, I basically had to pin you down before you could destroy your room even more. Once you calmed down, you explained to me that your boyfriend had just dumped you over the phone. Then you asked me to stay before I fell asleep. I guess we both just ended up asleep." He looked a little sheepish as if he was trying to hide something. "If she finds out about what almost-"
"I tried to kiss you, didn't I?" She cut off his thought
"What?" He looked bewildered.
"Careful with your thoughts, Rogers. I can read your mind."
"Yes, you did. It almost actually happened too,"
"You almost kissed me?"
"I stopped you before anything could happen."
"Why?"
"You were drunk, it's not right." Steve said, getting up out of the bed to go back to his floor.
"Steve?" She called, just as he was getting to the door.
"Yes?" He turned back to her.
"If I wasn't drunk, would you have kissed me back?" She asked curiously. A million thoughts crossed his mind, but he knew only one simple answer was the right one.
"You shouldn't mix business with pleasure." He replied. But of the million thoughts going through his head, that one answer was not one of them. He simply left the and closed the door behind him. "I don't know anymore."