Second Time's a Charm? (July 2002)

Over the past six weeks, James had been slowly starting to recover. Professor Xavier had managed to get through to him mentally and had unlocked his memories. He explained that it would take time for all of those memories to be processed and so he wouldn't remember everything at once. However, he did seem to remember and respond to Steve. There had been no episodes of violence and so Tony and Isabella had decided to allow him to have his own room. It was next to Steve's just in case he needed anything. Steve was a wonderful friend and was constantly checking up on him to ensure he was doing alright. However, he also knew when to just leave him alone. Isabella was slowly starting to gain his trust. Steve had told her what his favorite meal was and she had made it for him. As he ate it she had almost seen him smile. Isabella ensured he was comfortable and brought him fresh sheets and towels and had gone out with Steve to get some new clothes for him.

One afternoon, Isabella was with Steve in the kitchen. It was just after lunch and Isabella looked over to see Steve starring off into space again. "Thinking about Kate again?"

Steve had been leaning on his hand when he heard Isabella’s voice. He lifted up his head and shifted his head to look over at her. He smiled and looked down at the floor. “Kate and Peggy, how similar they are. But...but I think Kate wasn’t really interested. She was polite though about it,” Steve said.

“Hows Theo doing? He seems out of sorts but he looks physically ok. Do you know what happened before you got there?” Steve asked.

Isabella poured two glasses of water and added some slices of lemon, cumber, and some mint. She stirred them up with a spoon and then put the spoon in the dishwasher. "He talked to me about it. He accidentally brushed up against one of the men and saw images of him murdering a woman. He's been more affected by that than anything else that happened that day. I think it's just going to take him time to recover emotionally."

She handed one of the glasses to Steve and then took a sip of the refreshing water. It was quite hot outside and this helped to cool her off a little. "I think you need to give Kate another chance. A lot had happened in a short period of time and Kate was probably still processing everything. Maybe don't jump right in with the date though. Maybe just call her up and see how she's doing and how her friend is doing. She might appreciate that. Start things slow and just see how they progress naturally."

Steve nodded at what Isabella said but he wasn’t certain. He didn’t have much experience with women and thought Kate’s ‘no’ was a soft no, it was still a no. He continued to look at her phone number sometimes and he had talked to Bucky about it. The man though was pretty insatiable. Not quite like Tony but in a different way. Steve wasn’t the kind of guy that jumped into bed with a woman unless he really got to know her. Bucky, was quite the ladykiller back in the day. Girls didn’t even look in Steve’s direction let alone the zipcode he was in Now though...women did look at him. He got lots of fan mail and lots of ‘offers’ that were more embarrassing than anything else. Steve wasn’t shy exactly. He just wasn’t the kind of man to sleep around. There was plenty of opportunity, just no desire to do that.

“I’ll think about it,” Steve said.

That evening Steve began to dial Kate’s number and each time he stopped himself. He was sitting out on the terrace and it was a warm, perfect night. He dialed Kate’s number and this time, he did not hang up before it began to ring.

Now that the kids were out of school Their bedtimes were midnight. Evenso they typically got tired long before then. Serena felt that someone was watching her and when she opened her eyes she saw Theo standing over her. It was dark but she saw him wipe his eyes. Since the diner incident Theo was having nightmares. He kept seeing himself as the killer. He could see out of the killers eyes, hear what he heard and feel what he felt. The coldness of it all, the apathy toward the woman and what he was doing to her. He had never witnessed this before. When Serena shifted to lift him lay down Theo did and he curled up next to her. She could tell that he had been crying but he wouldn’t go to their parents. He thought he had caused them enough trouble recently already.

Kate strangely had found herself thinking a lot about Steve these past six weeks. Her anger had slowly dissipated as time went on. She understood why he had done what he had done and she had directed a lot of her anger at the situation at him because he had protected his friend. She knew that she would have done the same thing. She had finally faced Daniella and she had told her the truth about what had happened. To her relief, Daniella had forgiven her.

Kate continued working and had just returned from an overseas field mission. She was sitting in her room that night typing up her report when suddenly her phone rang. She glanced at the number and thought it looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Agent Blackwell."

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Serena knew that her brother was still suffering emotionally from what had happened that day at the diner and what he had witnessed when he had touched that man. It was going to take time for him to get past it, but until then Serena would be there for her brother. She was nearly asleep when she suddenly got the sense that someone was in her room watching her sleep. She opened her eyes and saw Theo there. She could see him wipe his eyes and knew that he had been crying. Without a word, she shifted to make room in her bed and lifted up the covers so he could get underneath them. She felt him curl up next to her. She put her arms around him and felt him relax against her.

“I never really knew that there were monsters in the world. Real ones. Beast might look like one, but he isn’t. That man...that man was a monster Serena. ANd when I touched him...I was him...I became him in that moment. I was choking that woman and I didn’t care. I was killing her but It was just a job. I feel guilt, horror and shame and I don’t even know why. I wish...I wish I wasn’t a mutant,” Theo said as he sniffled.

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Steve was ready to hang up as he suddenly felt awkward. But he closed his eyes, winced and stayed the course. “Hey Kate, its Steve Rogers,” he said.

Serena listened to Theo as he spoke. Her heart broke for him and she wished she could take away the pain he was feeling. "Theo, if you weren't a mutant then you would be dead right now. That dart was filled with poison and it was because of your mutations that your body ejected the poison and you lived. I can't imagine my life without you Theo. You're not just my twin brother...you're my friend."

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Kate was a little surprised to hear Steve's voice on the other end of the line. However, she wasn't upset that he had called. "Hi...How's your friend...Bucky?"

“Uh, He’s doing ok, he’s doing good. We take it one day at a time. He has good days and not so good days. But we got him back. I...got him back,” Steve said as he scratched the back of his head. He didn’t like talking on the phone much. He still wasn’t used to it.

“Hows...hows your friend doing? How are you doing Kate?” He asked.

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Theo didn’t really have anything to say about that. “I’m...sorry I froze. You asked me to...But I didn’t... I was so afraid,” Theo said.

Kate was quiet on the phone for a moment. She glanced at her unfinished report, but then made a decision. "Buy me an ice cream sundae and I'll tell you about it."

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Serena looked at him. "You don't have to say sorry about that. It was a scary situation. I don't know how Mom and Dad handle it."

Theo shifted in the bed so he could look at her. He was still quite upset. “I do, you needed a brave brother that day and I couldn’t be him,” he said. “If she shot you…” He began but got so upset he could not continue. “It would have been my fault,” he finally managed to get out

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Steve chuckled. “I think I can handle that. Hey, do you like baseball? I got tickets for Saturday’s game,” he said,

Serena looked at him. She wanted her brother to understand that she did not think of him as weak. "It would not have been your fault Theo. It would have been that horrible lady's fault and no one else's." She put her arms around him and hugged him. "I love you Theo."

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Kate smiled a little when Steve asked her to go to the baseball game with him. "I love baseball. That sounds like fun."

The next morning Serena was sitting at the table while Isabella made breakfast. She had a glass of chocolate milk and her mother was making Belgian waffles, Theo’s favorite. “I saw that Theo slept in your room again...is everything ok?” She asked as she mixed the batter. It bothered her that Theo didn’t talk to her or Tony. He seemed to rely on his sister alot these days. She wished he’d at least talk to her about what he was going through but so far he hadn’t.

Steve came up from the gym. His shirt was damp from sweat and it was obvious he had been working out. He looked like he was in a good mood and he was in a good mood infact. He poured himself a cup of coffee and gave Isabella a peck on the cheek before he sat down. “Hey there Serena,” He said as he reached over and mussed up her bed head of hair and chuckled. He then took to poking her lightly on the side of her neck where she was very ticklish.

The next morning, Theo went back to his room to take a shower. Serena got up and went out into the kitchen where she found her mother making Belgian waffles. She made herself a glass of chocolate milk and then sat down at the breakfast bar. She could tell that their mother was still concerned about Theo, especially now that she realized he had slept in her room again.

"He's just still having a hard time getting over what he saw. He also feels like he failed me by not using his powers on those people when I told him to. He froze and I can understand why, but I don't blame him."

Isabella looked over at Steve as he walked up from the gym. He was sweaty from working out and unusually happy. When he kissed her on the cheek she knew something good had happened and she grinned at him. "Sooooo...did you call Kate?"

Steve smiled. “Yes, and she’s agreed to go to a baseball game with me on Saturday,” he said as he poured a coffee for himself. Steve beamed at the thought and it felt like a huge weight was lifted off of him right then. Then Theo stepped out of his room and headed toward the breakfast nook. Steve just looked at him but he did not smile and his face held a very neutral, unhappy expression as he sat down. Isabella moved to the refrigerator to get him some chocolate milk.

“There you go Theo,” she said as she handed it to him. “Uh...thanks,” he said as he slid it over toward him. “We got all the fixins for the waffles, chocolate, caramel, strawberries, whipped creamed, ice cream, nuts, peanut butter, whatever you want hun,” Isabella said as she waited for the first ones to get done. Tony had just ran up the stairs as Isabella began to doll out the bacon onto the plates.

“There he is, Theo, you free to help me out today?” Tony asked. He hadn’t spoken to Isabella about this but Tony wanted it to be a surprise. “The new Avengers jet is ready and I wanted you to help me test it out,” he said. Theo’s eyes grew large at that. He loved to fly and the prospect actually made his mouth turn up into a slight smile. The last time Tony let him actually fly the jet and he had loved that.

“Well..if you need me, sure,” he said and Serena saw happy eyes flicker at her a moment before he looked back at his father. “Uh, Nuts, cream and caramel mom,” Theo said. “On mine,” Theo said.

Isabella grinned at Steve when he told her that he and Kate were going to a baseball game on Saturday. She could tell he was excited about it. She hadn't seen him this happy and excited in a while. He had been so worried about Bucky lately and had been taking care of him that he needed this. He needed a break and he needed to do something for himself. She was glad he had called Kate. She wasn't going to assume that this was going to lead to anything more serious, but she hoped it might.

Just then, Theo walked into the kitchen and Isabella sighed when she saw his unhappy expression. She didn't know what to do to help him and, as a mother, it broke her heart. She got out some chocolate milk for him and began to portion out the bacon onto some plates. Before she could ask Theo what he wanted on his waffle, Tony walked in and asked Theo if he wanted to help him test out the new jet. Isabella smiled when she saw his face light up. She gave Tony an approving smile and nod. This was the first time she had seen him smile in six weeks. She quickly prepared his waffle for him the way he wanted it and gave it to him. She then looked at Steve.

"Do you think James would like a waffle and some bacon?"

However, before Steve could respond, Bucky suddenly appeared. He stood quietly and a little awkwardly since everyone was now looking at him. He really hadn't come out of his room until now. However, this was a good sign in Isabella's mind.

"Good morning James. We are having waffles and bacon for breakfast. Would you like some?"

James looked at Steve who nodded and got down another coffee cup from the cupboard. James was dressed in a light green t-shirt and blue jeans and his dark, wavy hair was clean and hung down his shoulders and back. His cybernetic arm looked odd on him but everyone was so used to it now, they didn’t even look at it. With his hands in his pockets he stepped up toward the breakfast nook. Steve moved to hand him a mug of coffee and James took it silently. Theo was the only one that appeared uncomfortable with James being there. Isabella saw him shift slightly toward Serena.

“Please, sit here James,” Isabella said and she gestured to a chair on the other side of the nook. James looked at all the fixings for the waffles. He never had waffles but he did recall his mother making him pancakes. And he had pancakes at restaurants and diners long ago. Not recently though. He took a sip of the coffee...it was good.

“Uh...Bananas...bananas and peanut...butter,” James said slowly and awkwardly as if he was reciting something from a half lost memory. He already knew he liked bacon. The first 2 waffles went to the kids and then Isabella poured in more batter.

“Did you tell them?” James asked and Steve’s smile faded. “No, not yet James, I haven’t talked to them yet,” Steve said. James eyes grew tight but it faded quickly and he nodded. Steve mouthed, ‘I'll talk to you later’ to Isabella.

Isabella fixed James’ waffle how he had requested and she fixed one for Tony and Steve as well. She knew how they liked theirs. Lastly, she made one for herself. Normally she topped hers with fruit, but today she went for the chocolate chips.

They all are together and then Theo went off with Tony to the jet and Serena went to the lab. James has gone down to the gym so it gave Isabella a few minutes to talk to Steve as she cleaned up the kitchen.

“So, what is it James wanted you to tell us?”

Steve took a sip of his fresh cup of coffee. “Well, its about a girl...a woman. A Natalya Sokolova to be specific. James was loaned by Hydra to the SSB to train this girl. At the time she was 17. Well, he fell in love with her, they fell in love with one another or so he believes. He asked me to ask you to...find out if she is still alive,” Steve said.

“The SSB ‘made’ her. Artificial insemination and they used the super soldier serum at conception. They trained her, abused her, tortured and raped her from an early age. All designed to turn her into the perfect weapon. However once she and James began to train together she developed feelings for him. And then James developed feelings for her. When they were separated he was reprogrammed. And a few times after that,” Steve said.

Isabella listened to what Steve told her about this Natalya Sokolova. She was mortified by what she heard had been done to her. It was terrible and made her sick to her stomach.

She rinsed the last plate and put it into the dishwasher. “I can see what I might be able to do. Kate might be another good person to ask. They might have tabs on her because she’s with the SSB.”

Steve winced. "I'm going to owe Kate alot for all the favors I'm asking for," he said. He had a good feeling about Kate Blackwell though. She was intelligent, thoughtful and patient from what he could tell already. "Well, I guess I better go get cleaned up," he said and headed off.