A Returning Customer

There was light. A bright light that stung her eyes. A warm light she felt as it shone through the window. She heard beeping and with her eyes closed she could count how many seconds there were between each beep. There was also a strong smell of flowers. Roses and other flowers though with her eyes closed she didn’t know what they were but she knew they were all around her. As she opened her eyes she noticed the soft glow of the lights up above her and she knew where she was. She was in the hospital...again. But in a much different room, this time. She had IV’s stuck into her right hand and her mother was in a chair up against the wall near her bed. There were flowers all over the room, of every type, color and variety that she could name and more that she could not.

Serena slowly became more conscious and aware of her surroundings. As her eyes fluttered open she winced and blinked from the bright lights above her. The steady beeping and the strong smell of disinfectant was enough to tell her where she was. Her eyes slowly blinked open and looking down at her right hand she could see several IVs attached, but what caught her eye were all the flowers in vases and bouquets around the room. As she stirred her mother heard her movement and her eyes opened and she quickly moved to sit next to her on the bed. She could hear Tony just outside the room and she called to him.

"Tony, she's awake."

She looked back at Serena. "Relax Serena...just relax."

As her father walked in Serena looked at him and remembered something. "Where's Peter? Is he alright?"

Tony stood quickly and came over to his daughter’s bedside. At the same time her mother, Isabella filled a cup of cool water and brought it over to her. She shot Tony a concerned look at Serena’s question and then she looked over at Tony who frowned and nodded. They could see the growing concern in their daughter’s face. “I’m...sorry honey, he...he didn’t make it,” Isabella said softly. Her eyes were soft and moist as she said it and she shifted her hand and took hold of hers.

Serena’s sudden awakening caught both Isabella and Tony off-guard. The suddenness of her sitting up and gasping as if she had not breathed for some time brought them up to her bedside in an instant.

Serena sat bolt-up right in her bed and gasped as if she had been held underwater for a long time and then released. Her face was pale and her eyes wide with fear. She was practically trembling and there were tears in her eyes. As she looked around she realized that she wasn't in the same room she had just been in. Her mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton. Serena began to cry as she realized it had been a dream...but now she was terrified to ask the same question.

"Peter...? Is he...? Did he...?"

Isabella looked at her daughter and lovingly brushed back some of the hair from her face. "He's going to be fine Serena."

Tony extended his hand that held a large, blue cup with a straw toward her face. He brought it to her mouth and Serena leaned forward and began to sip on the straw. She was so thirsty she drank until she slurped on the straw. Tony moved back to refill the cup and he smiled warmly at her. “That was some smart thinking, absorbing the explosion. Our suits might have survived the explosion but I doubt Evan, Steve, Kate nor peter would have. You saved them all Serena,” Tony said proudly as he readied the straw for her again.

Natalya had been treated and released. SHIELD used some of their hi tech medicine to heal her cuts without sutures or stitches and she would not have scars. Fighting in the dark had been a wake up call for everyone except Evan. He could see in the dark when he engaged his power. It did little to help her, Logan and Pharaoh though. They had all taken hurts but none of them were in the hospital longer than a few hours. The tower’s power and systems had been restored and Logan was so frustrated with the encounter he was not very good company at all. He got like that sometimes when he felt he was near to useless in an encounter. Nothing Natalya said could soothe him either. Evan knocked on Natalya’s door.

Steve and Kate had changed, eaten and now were lounging in the large living area. Steve was on the large, recliner and Kate sat on his lap and was curled up on him as Steve cycled through the channels. Evan looked back at them as he knocked then turned and faced Natalya’s door.

“Isabella said that they both were in stable condition and should be home soon,” Steve said as he found a baseball game. He loved baseball but do to his obvious advantage, he’d never play against anyone in any sport. He did not, however even mention the Charity ball nor what he was about to ask Kate just before he was interrupted. He was embarrassed and now he just felt awkward about the entire thing. He did love Kate but broaching the subject of marriage now...it was just...awkward.

Serena was so thirsty. She wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious, but it felt like at least a day. She was so relieved to hear that everyone was alright. She had taken a huge risk in absorbing the explosion, but she hadn’t even thought of that in the moment. All she had been thinking about was saving those she loved. Isabella smiled warmly at her daily and caressed her hair. “Everyone is calling you a hero.”

Serena looked at her parents. “What happened with Ghost?”

Natalya was resting in her room. She hadn’t wanted to be treated, but she hadn’t been given a choice. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t too bad and was easily treatable and she was quickly released. Natalya wasn’t exactly a great patient. She heard a knock at her door and she glanced over. “Come in.”

Steve and Kate had gone through the Tower and had restored the power. Thankfully, there wasn’t much damage otherwise. With Serena and Peter recovering Steve and Kate were able to relax. Kate was curled up on Steve’s lap as she sat in one of the recliners. Neither of them had said anything since the almost proposal. Kate knew that it had taken a lot for Steve to get up in front of everyone and then to have his moment be interrupted must have been difficult for him and she wondered if his confidence had been shattered. She glanced over and saw Evan step into Natalya’s room leaving them alone. She gently took the remote from Steve’s hand and turned off the tv and looked at him.

“Steve, I’m so sorry your moment was interrupted the other night. I know what you were going to say. I don’t know if your question still stands but if so my answer is yes.”

Steve groaned and buried his face in Kate’s blonde hair then shook his head. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen,” He said in muffled words with hsi face still pressed into her hair. A clear sign he was far from over the humiliation of it all. However Kate felt his right hand dig into the front pocket of his jeans and he pulled out the small black box he had always carried in his pocket. Kate’s words had only made him feel even worse than he did already but decided it was best to man up and just get it over with.

Steve backed his head up from her hair to look down at the box as he flipped it open with his fingers. A tear shaped rock of considerable size gleamed into Kate’s eyes and he did smile when he felt her gasp. He had heard that women sometimes lost their wits when staring down a ring like this. Steve reach around Kate and swapped hands so that he could pluck the ring out of the box with his right hand. He did so and smiled again when he saw Kate following the ring with her eyes. He also felt her suddenly become much warmer than she had been a moment ago.

“I’ve never asked the question so your answer does not mean anything,” he said as he took her hand in the large, strong fingers of his left hand. He shifted his right hand and held the ring at the end of her finger, almost teasingly. “Kate Blackwell, will you honor me by being my wife?” He asked then slowly pushed the ring onto her finger. They both looked at her hand. The ring was yellow gold with tiny diamonds on both sides with a gold setting and the single, tear shaped diamond. She couldn’t be certain how many carats the solitary diamond was but it made her finger appear smaller than it was.

Evan looked Natalya over as he entered her room and closed the door behind him. He knew she had no life threatening injuries but he hadn’t scene her return. Evan had known what he was going to say when he saw her but those words died in his throat when she turned to regard him. He rubbed his palms on the sides of his pants as if he were agitated or impatient. Evan almost always had no issue saying what was on his mind but he still hesitated.

“I don’t know why but I’m feeling rather melancholy right now and I don’t know why. If you were standing up when I entered I don’t think I would have asked but since you aren’t standing I think I will,” he said though his voice had a tinge of nervousness in it. ”I really need you right now even though maybe you don’t need me,” Evan said. His darker complexion made it less obvious that he was blushing but he was and he hoped she knew what he meant. He wanted to have sex with Natalya and felt that she might as well though might never have come to him like this.

“SHIELD has him,” Tony said. “Though he was...injured a great deal,” he said. He wasn’t certain if Serena wanted to know that she had seriously maimed the man. As she absorbed the explosion she lashed out at him with her power and burned his arm off at the shoulder. He caught on fire as well and it was Tony who had used his suits fire extinguisher system to put it out. Isabella was right there to but Tony was certain she would have let the man burn if he hadn’t acted.

Kate knew that Steve was still rather embarrassed but now it was out in the open at least. She felt Steve shift and pull the ring box from his pocket. As he did she felt herself begin to hold her breath in anticipation. As he opened the box she did gasp. The ring was...gorgeous. A few tears filled her eyes as Steve pulled the ring from the box and began to place it on her finger. Hearing him actually ask her to marry him caused a tear to slip free from her eye and slip down her cheek. “Yes, Steve. Nothing in this world would make me happier.”

Natalya looked over at Evan as he walked into her room and shut the door behind him. She could see he was nervous and she found that odd since he always seemed to exude confidence. As she realized what he was asking her she looked up into his eyes. She didn’t say anything, but after a moment she shifted in her bed and gave him room to join her there.

Isabella was quiet a moment before looking at her daughter. “Serena, there is something we wanted to talk to you about. When we came in we saw Ghost had a knife to your throat, but then it began to disintegrate. Was that you?”

Serena sighed and nodded. “Yes, it was. I developed this new power after my encounter with Doom. With Peter and Evan’s help I’ve realized that I’m able to disintegrate non-organic matter.”

Tony looked at Isabella briefly and their eyes met though only for a moment. Tony didn’t like that Serena kept something like this from them...from him. And she went to others to test out this new power. “You didn’t have to hide it from us Serena. We would have understood and helped you,” He said trying not to sound offended though he was. He couldn’t understand her thought process with this but he decided to not press her right now. When she explained how it all worked Tony wondered about extreme applications. “So, you can absorb non-organic matter including chemical reactions...the explosion. Do you know if there is a limit on how much you can absorb?” he asked.

“Well, now I guess its just about timing, right? When you want to do this, where and how big and all of that,” Steve said.

Evan unlaced his boots, bent over to take them off then stepped up to her bed and laid down next to her. He shifted so he was looking down at her, she was on her back and looking up at him. She had a decidedly...neutral expression, a clear sign that if he wanted something from her that he was going to have to get her going. He leaned over and kissed her lips. Softly at first, taking time to caress her lips with his and taste her tongue. When he tilted his head back to look at her he noticed she was looking into his eyes. Without breaking eye contact with her he moved his hand down to her belly and felt the hem of her yoga pants. He snaked his hand down inside of them and under her panties and began using his fingers on her as he lowered back down and began kissing her again.

Serena knew her parents were upset that she had kept this from them but she had wanted to understand it better before going to them. She was a scientist after all. “I didn’t want to worry you. I knew that you were both worried about me after what happened with Doom and I didn’t want to add to that. I also wanted to understand better what was happening.” She paused and took another drink of water before looking at them again. “I don’t know the limit but this new power and my energy power seem to be linked. This appears to be a new part of it. Like my suit I draw energy from whatever I disintegrate.”

Kate had known this proposal was coming but it still was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop looking at the ring. “Oh well I don’t want a big wedding. Just our closest friends.” She paused for a moment and thought about something. “I wish my parents were alive and I could tell them about this.”

Natalya wasn’t exactly in the amorous mood, but as Evan began to kiss her she kissed him back. He was familiar and comforting. She looked up into his eyes as he pulled back. She felt his hand begin to snake down her stomach and then slip into her yoga pants. His eyes remained locked on hers as his fingers found her most intimate part. She began to tremble with desire and she moaned softly as he began to kiss her again.

“Yeah i miss mine too,” Steve said. “And I wish I knew where Bucky was...he’s like a brother to me,” He said as he recalled a fond memory of their exploits long ago. “I guess we’ll have to just be family to one another,” Steve said and rubbed her palm with his thumb. “Any thoughts on where you’d like to go on a honeymoon?” Steve asked. “I’d like to see you in a Bikini...sometime,” He said honestly. As long as he had known her they had never done anything like that together. They were so into what they did they never took time like that. He thought that they all could use a couple weeks to themselves without having to deal with worldwide threats.

“Kate, how did your parents die?” Steve asked out of the blue. He had always wanted to ask that but it always slipped his mind to.

Evan and Natalya were tangled together in her bed. They were on their sides with Evan behind her and she had her head turned toward him so he could kiss her as he made love to her from behind.

A considerable amount of time later they lounged together in her bed. They were both covered in sweat as their love making had risen into an all out frenzy. He did not have Natalya’s endurance nor bodily tolerance but he felt he gave almost as good as he got...this time. In any case he needed this. Needed to feel something besides the odd sense of melancholy that those in the tower seemed to be feeling. Not everyone to be sure but he still felt it.

Evan held Natalya up against him as he liked to do and he lazily played with her hair and lightly caressed her neck.

“I was pretty much a hermit in that SHIELD installation. After we ‘parted ways’ I looked for you...for awhile but gave up eventually,” Evan admitted. “Nick Fury gave me your file thinking that it would draw me away from you but it actually did the opposite. It made me want to find you even more though I knew I wouldn’t,” he said softly. With her being so close he didn’t need to talk any louder than he was. “So i just...stayed there and worked for them,” he said. “I don’t know why it still surprised me that they’d have kept you a secret from me. I don’t think I could ever trust Nick again for that. I spent years studying that...Tesseract for them,” he said.

Kate smiled at Steve’s comment that they would be each other’s family. She liked that idea. The Avengers had become like a family to her, but Steve would actually become her family and that brought her a feeling of happiness and comfort. She thought about their honeymoon and smiled a little when he mentioned wanting to see her in a bikini. “I want to go somewhere away from everyone we can just be alone and ourselves. And if it involves wearing a bikini that would be fine with me,” she added with a grin.

She kissed him and then thought about her parents and their death. “I don’t know much about it. All I know is that they were sent to help another agent who was targeted by the SSB. Something happened and they were killed by the SSB agent.”

Natalya lay in Evan’s arms as they both relaxed after their love making session. Natalya’s head rested on his chest and she felt him lazily play with her hair. She quietly listened to him as he spoke about his time after she left. She sighed softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t contact you. To be honest I was rather unstable when Logan found me. He was sent to kill me but he spared my life and I went with him. It took...awhile to adjust to this life and I didn’t want to bring you into my problems.”

Her interest was piqued when Evan mentioned the Tesseract. “The Tesseract? Doesn’t it contain an Infinity Stone?”

“Evan froze when she mentioned the infinity stone. No one was supposed to know about that. It was extremely dangerous and he would know, he had learned more about it than anyone. And he held back alot as well. He didn’t completely trust SHIELD and with good reason. He honestly wasn’t certain if he should say anything to Natalya about it, considering where she had come from. The less people that knew about it, the safer the world was. Evan stopped what he was doing and turned her face up to face him.

“How did you find out about that? That’s highly classified information,” He said and he had a look of concern on his face. He trusted Natalya with his life but if her former associates ever learned of it...He didn’t even want to think about that.

Steve frowned. “And you never discussed that with Natalya? Why not?” He asked curious now why she hadn’t. Undoubtedly Natalya knew who she worked with and likely knew about that.

Natalya felt Evan suddenly tense up. She felt him shift and turned her face up to look at him. She could see the look of concern in his eyes and she began to wonder if he fully trusted her. "You read my file so you know that I wasn't just a highly trained assassin, but also a skilled spy. I knew how to get information from people. I found out about the Infinity Stone in the Tesseract just before Logan found me. I never told anyone about it...I swear."

Kate sighed and got up and walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. "No, I haven't talked to Natalya about this because I'm not certain I want to know the answer."

Evan seemed to relax after that. “It’s not a question of trust,” He said as he shifted back to where he was. “You know the deal probably better than I. The more people that know a secret…” he said and did not finish the sentence. “I thought it could solve our world’s energy problem and I agreed to help SHIELD in that regard but that’s not what Fury was after,” Evan said. It was a foregone conclusion that he was young and gullible. It was likely why Natalya had not killed him. “I try to see the good side of people and people abuse that way to often for my liking,” He said and nearly chuckled when she did not disagree. Evan sighed. “Im hungry, are you hungry?” he asked and then began to use his power. He pointed to a spot on the bed and held her back as a shadow crept over then appeared to hover very near her arm. Suddenly a quart of Spumoni Ice Cream fell through it onto the bed and 2 spoons clinked doan soon after. “Do you like Spumoni? I’ts one of my favs,” Evan said then reached over and opened up the top of the quart. They adjusted so they could eat the ice cream.

What Kate said set Steve aback. “Are you being serious right now? Oh Kate, why wouldn't you want to know?" he said now not really wanting to know the answer either if it were his parents. His died of old age he was thankful to hear. Along with everyone else.

Even though Natalya had still been working for the SSB when she learned about the Tesseract and the Infinity Stone she hadn't been planning reveal that information to Tatiana. Her belief in the SSB had been waning even before Logan had found her and horrific memories of what had been done to her had been to resurface. Natalya shifted and sat up as the quart of ice cream and two spoons appeared. She had never had Spumoni before, but she liked it. She ate a little in silence before looking over at Evan. "So, you read my file...is there anything you want to ask me...or say?

Kate sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It isn't going to change anything. It isn't going to bring them back." She got them each a glass of water and walked back over to sit with Steve. "I'll think about it though."

Evan gave Natalya a sidelong look. He wasn’t certain how she was able to transcend an existence of murder and espionage. “No I think it’s already been said except…was it real? What was between us? Or were you just...you know, stringing me along to use me if you needed to. It won’t affect how I feel now only my memory from before,” he assured her as he took another spoonful of the ice cream. “I know you were very good at what you did...at what you were but...after Malcolm’s death, do you still have faith in being here?” Evan asked.

Natalya glanced at Evan slightly when he asked her if what they had had before had been real or if she had just been using him. She slowly scooped out another small spoonful of ice cream. "No, it was real." She placed the spoon in her mouth to eat the ice cream and was quiet a long time as she considered his other question. "I do still have faith in being here...I have to. This is all I have Evan. Besides you, these are the only people who would ever give me a chance after all I've done. I didn't deserve the chance I received from Steve, but he gave it to me anyway. I never had a real family...but they've become one to me. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this place...if I didn't have them...or you."

She didn't realize that tears had come to her eyes until one trickled down her cheek. She reached up and brushed it away with the back of her hand.

Evan hadn’t expected Natalya’s answers no her emotional response to them. He leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. “Hey, we’re all a bag of misfits to some degree,” he said kissing her cheek and then her lips. He tasted the salt of her tears and fed her some of the ice cream from his own spoon.

He went on to tell her about his mother and father. His mother had been a princess and not of this world. She had been tortured and made a prisoner by her own mother who held her on a collar and leash, forced to pleasure her guests as a slave. His father, was a scientist experimenting with dark matter and during one of his experiments he punched through into the plane of chaos and managed to survive there long enough to find my mother. During his brief stay he fell in love with her and was instrumental in affecting her escape. She new little of our world but was so grateful
To my father that she decided to return his love and bore him a son, me.