Steven Rogers (ex_stevengro92) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2013-06-02 19:44:00 |
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After making sure that Calleigh had everything handled at the hospital, Steve made his way to Stark Tower. He wanted to see Peggy. He was very thankful for the elevator when he got to the tower, heading up and knocking on the door before trying the knob, thankful that it had been left unlocked. "Peggy?" "In here." she called from the sofa, recognizing his voice of course but unsure of which Steve it was until he came in. She was wearing just a vest top and shorts which stopped the worst of her wounds from being covered and hurting with the weight and itch of fabric. "Come in." she rubbed her tired eyes. "Would you like some tea?" He came over and smiled a little. "I can get it. You just relax, okay?" Peggy didn't have much energy to argue so she just sat back down, "How are you? Is everybody alright?" she asked, having heard nothing since last night "There are some people that are hurt." He sighed and went into the kitchen to make some tea. "Do you want some too?" "Yes please." she looked over at him, "And there should be a tin of chocolate biscuits in the cupboard. What do you Americans call them...?" she sighed, "Cookies. That's it." Peggy shifted on the couch, "How are you?" she repeated. "I'm fine." He smiled and got the tin of cookies down, then started the tea. He brought the tin out and set it on the coffee table. "Really. Had a little asthma attack when things got a little hectic but it's fine." "Do you have an inhaler?" she asked, concerned. "The medical supplies must be running low at the clinic and the hospital." "I'm the only asthmatic on the island, Peggy. Well...we are. For now. He'll get back to being himself in no time. So it's fine." He shook his head and chuckled. "Inhalers contain steroids which strengthen the lungs and increase... oxygen intake." she took a breath, "Which are incredibly useful after breathing in that dust and dirt." He nodded. "There are a lot of them." He smiled. Once the tea was done, he brought it back as well, holding out a cup to her. "I'm sorry if I didn't make it right." "I'll just take a hot drink right now, Steve." she smiled back at him. "Thank you. Please sit." He nodded and took a seat, sipping his tea. "You're really gonna be okay?" She nodded too, "Exhausted. I'm one giant bruise and this thigh will be an ugly scar after some therapy but I'm alive, and that's what matters." she sipped her tea, sighing in happiness. "I was lucky compared to the others." "I've heard that scars build character." He smiled. "I'm glad you're going to be okay." "I'm fine." she nodded, "Absolutely." She sipped her tea and reached for a biscuit, trying to hide her wince. "I've been helping out at the hospital." He smiled. "That's wonderful." she smiled back, "I was worried about you." "I made sure to get to safety as soon as I could." He nodded. "Since I wouldn't be any good in the fight." "I don't think any of us particularly were good in the fight. Two laser battling robots and see how many were injured?" she shook her head, "You would have been no worse than any of us." "And if I had had an asthma attack in the middle of the fighting?" "You would have been hurt, if not killed, like the rest of us." she looked at him, "But you would have done some good Steve. You're brave, you're a leader, you inspire people. You don't need to be Captain America to make a difference." "I got out of the way and made a difference in a different way." He ran his fingers through his hair. "The doctors needed help." "And you provide it." she smiled, "You're worth fighting for." He chuckled. "I guess so." "No guessing. You are." she bit into her biscuit. "Thanks." He sipped his tea. "Is he okay?" He had taken to not saying the other man's name. It was a little weird, knowing he was talking about a different version of himself. "We talked about some things. Future and past things." she looked down at her tea, "I don't want him to be hurting either but I know he's scared." "So he didn't get hurt then? During the battle?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "No. He couldn't..." she rubbed her neck, "He was having trouble carrying me to the clinic. JARVIS showed him some video feed of Stark's." He nodded. "I wondered if he would try to fight anyway." He chuckled. "I would have tried, honestly. I just like being alive a little too much, I guess." "I.. um... may have told JARVIS to lock him in his room and only let him out if it was an emergency." she whispered. He laughed. "That was a smart move. Especially with you out there fighting." He sipped his tea. "I did it because I know him. And you." she blushed. He picked up a cookie and took a bite, nodding. "He'd do anything to keep you safe." He smiled, then a thought occurred to him. "Are you still going to be able to go to the party?" "I hope so." she smiled a little, sipping her tea. "If he still wants to go with a disfigured girl." she chuckled and looked down at her ugly, scarred thigh. "You're not disfigured." He sipped his tea, then looked her in the eye. "I'll make you a deal. I'll stop being so down on myself if you'll look me in the eye and tell me you're still beautiful and mean it." He held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?" She glanced at his hand and then back to her tea, "It's... it's not simple as that." "Why not?" He kept his hand out there. "Peggy, that scar isn't going to change who you are inside. Part of your beauty is in the person you are. Nothing can change that." She sniffled a little and met his eyes. "I just..." she ran her fingers through her hair, "It's... too hard. He and I, we haven't... we're not..." she looked back down at her tea. "He won't now, anyway." Steve sighed and moved to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Are you afraid he won't love you anymore because of this?" "Am I that obvious?" she wiped at her cheeks, "It's not like he and I are the most... touchy of people but who would want to look at that?" she glanced down to her thigh. "I know it's stupid but it's not an easy thing to look at, is it?" "It's not easy to look at but not for the reason you think." He reached up and wiped her cheeks gently. "It's hard to look at that because it means we couldn't keep you safe. Couldn't stop you getting hurt." He sighed. "It doesn't make you any less beautiful. You're still the woman we fell in love with." He cleared his throat. She licked her lip a little, still looking down. "I don't know. Is that all he's going to see when he looks at me? It wasn't his fault. It wasn't yours, either, it was mine. I wasn't fast enough." she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't... be thinking these things." "It's natural to think them." He smiled softly. "It's going to take s while to get over things but I think you two will be okay as long as you're both open and honest about your feelings." He moved his arm, scratching the back of his neck. "You're never going to get over this if you keep everything in." She barked in laughter. "I'm British and from the 1940s, Steve. If you think it's easy for me to express emotion to anyone, you really need a crash course in me." she blushed. "I was a spy, a secret Agent for the SSR. I don't do painful emotions." she looked at him. "You think it's going to be easy for him? We were raised to not have emotions. Real men don't cry. Don't show or talk about their feelings." He shook his head. "But if you want this to work you're both going to have to learn. Both of you." "How? We're too similar to work, Steve." she laid back against the sofa, tea forgotten in her lap. "I don't know what to do." "Just talk to him." He sighed. "I didn't walk away just to watch you two fall apart." He shook his head. "Please. I want you to be happy, Peggy, and the only way that's going to happen is if you open up to each other." "I'll try." she smiled a little at him, "You do so much for us, to keep us in line. What about you?" He shrugged. "What about me?" He sipped his tea, then put it down since it was getting cold. "You and Lillian seem very close." she smiled a little. "Come on Steve. I opened up to you, you can talk to me." He shook his head. "Lil is just a friend. We went to high school together." "And I'm a nun." Peggy smirked. "I'm not blind, young man, I see how you look at her." "You being a nun is going to be very difficult on your relationship." He smiled, the scratched above his ear. "I don't look at her in any particular way." He shrugged. "Besides, she's probably not interested anyway. I mean, we went on a double date and she chose Bucky.” "Yes, Steve told me that story and it sounds to me like you ran away from her. What is a girl meant to think after such a thing?" she raised her eyebrow at him. "And don't cheek me." "I didn't run away from her." He sighed. "Oh yes you did. Don't doubt my intuition." "She's just a friend. That's all." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I have all day, Steve. And I can't move with this leg." she smirked, "So unless you'd like to allow me to struggle up to eat on my own, you can tell me what you like about her." Steve shrugged. "She's nice. And she's funny sometimes. She's smart." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Not really sure why it matters." "Because she likes you too." Peggy reached for another chocolate biscuit. "Yeah, as a friend." He cleared his throat. "That's all she's ever been." "No. She likes you as a potential boyfriend." Peggy dunked her biscuit in her tea, voraciously hungry. "And you know it." "How do you even know that?" He shook his head. "I know things." she said with a mouthful. The cookies were all gone and she tried to get up to get something else to eat. "I can tell." He got to his feet and gently pushed her back down. "I'll get you something else to eat. You stay put." He smiled. "Are you hungry for anything in particular?" "I can do it, Steve." she folded her arms and pouted, feeling useless. "Do I have any bread left?" "I'll check. Do you want a sandwich?" He started to head toward the kitchen. "Toast please." she looked around and pushed herself up from the couch, leaning against the back. She'd have to remember to ask for a pair of crutches. "Butter on one slice, marmalade on the other." "That I can do." He nodded and put the bread in the toaster. "Mind if I join you? That sounds really good." "Of course. You need feeding up." she sits on the back of the couch, watching him. "I think there's some cola in the fridge." He shook his head. "I don't really drink that stuff all that much. Water's fine." He smiled. "And what do you mean, I need feeding up? Are you, like pretty much all the women in my life, telling me I'm too skinny?" He chuckled. "You don't eat enough, that's all." she chuckled, "And that's strange because the other Steve gave me those colas." she smiled, "I figured you might like them too." "I'm not all that hungry." He shrugged. "I like the colas, I just don't drink them that often." He smiled. "You're not?" she frowned, "You know I can make my own toast, don't you?" "I mean most of the time I'm not. I don't eat much." He nodded. When the toaster popped, he put the toasted bread on a plate and got two more slices, putting them in the toaster. He then started to butter the one piece. "You're supposed to be relaxing, Peggy." "I am. You see?" she sighed dramatically. "I'm relaxing." "I'll make the toast." He got the marmalade and put some on the other piece, holding the plate out to her. "Do you want a cola?" "Yes please. I have to take my pills in a minute." she looked up at the clock. "Can't have tea with pills." she took the plate, beaming, "Thank you." He nodded and got the cola for her, smiling. "Now, go sit down and eat your toast." He chuckled. "Yes sir. So bossy." she staggered to the couch, sitting down with the plate and practically inhaling her toast. "Well, you won't listen." He prepared his toast and then went over to join her on the couch. "Are you.....okay?" "I haven't eaten since before those things got here." she licked her lips of marmalade. "And weren't we talking about you and Lillian?" "I think we were talking about you needing to rest." He cleared his throat. "You can have my toast if you want." "I'm alright now.." she licked her fingertips too, "Now, when are you going to ask Lillian out?" "How many times do I have to tell you that she's just a friend, Peggy?" He shook his head. "Alright, alright. I'll leave it be." she chuckled and reached for her pills, pulling out a few. "I don't care what you say, Peggy. She's not interested." He ran his fingers through his hair, then made a face. "Great, now I have marmalade in my hair." She giggled at him, "Hold on." Peggy swallowed her pills and took up a box of wet wipes beside her, "Here." He took the wipes and wiped off his hand. "I'm going to have to take a shower again." He shook his head. "This stuff gets everywhere." "Well that'll be something to remember." she giggled. "You can shower here if you want. We have hot water in the Tower." He shook his head. "It's okay. I've actually gotten used to the cold showers." He made a face and chuckled. "Suit yourself." she shrugged and grabbed her cream, rubbing it into her leg wound. He watched her for a minute, then sighed. "Do you want some help with that?" She raised her eyebrow. "You want to rub cream into my thigh, Steve?" "I um..." He blushed hard and cleared his throat. "I...just want to help." He scratched the back of his neck. "I need some help with the ones on my back." she looked at him, still rubbing her thigh. He nodded. "I can do that." He smiled a little. She turned on the couch and pulled up her vest, "Have at it." she blushed red. He took the cream and started to rub it on the ones on her back. "These aren't so bad." "Yeah, they're just grazing blows." she nodded, shivering a little. "Thank you for.. everything." "It's no problem." He smiled. She pulled up her vest more so he could get the worst wound at the top. "Am I really still pretty?" she whispered. He nodded. "Yes." He didn't even hesitate. "You're beautiful." "Oh." she smiles softly. "Th.. thank you." "No problem." He smiled. He finished up the last of the spots on her back and held the cream out to her. "All done." "Thanks." she pulled down her vest, taking the cream from him. "You'll be up and dancing in no time." He nodded. "Maybe." she smiled again. "Thank you. Can I hug you?" He nodded. "Yeah, I think a hug would be okay." Peggy turned around and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He hugged back, trying to be careful of her back. She sighed and put her chin on his shoulder. "Sorry. These pills... they make me all.. sleepy." "It's okay." He smiled. "Do you want some help getting to bed?" "Is that alright?" she asked, picking up her cola. "I can do that." He nodded and got to his feet. "I'm sure he'll be back soon, though. And you can cuddle together for a nap. Or something." He shrugged. "We cuddle." she admittedly, pulling herself up. He shifted under her arm so she could take the weight off her leg. "Which bedroom is yours?" He knew the apartments had two. "One on the left." she leant on him a little. He slowly guided her to the bedroom, not wanting to hurt her too much. "It's going to be okay, you know?" "Which part?" she asks, opening her bedroom door. "My body, my dreams, or my relationship?" "Yes." He chuckled. "All of it. It's all going to be okay." "You have optimism, don't you?" she laughed and leant on the bed, exhausted. He got her situated and stepped back a little. "I wasn't supposed to live past age 5. Of course I have optimism." "Well, I'm glad you did." she lies down on her side. "Or me and a lot of people would be dead and gone." He nodded and pulled the blanket up for her. "Get some sleep, okay?" "Shower if you want to, ok?" she yawned, "And help yourself to biscuits if you like." "I will." He nodded, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" "Stay safe." she closed her eyes and fell asleep almost right away Steve nodded and then left, making sure to lock the door behind him as he did. |