All Along - Steve Rogers {1}

Chapter 18: Shakespeare In The Park

The tension was at an all time high. The Quinjet was so silent you could hear a penny drop. Loki had been cuffed and sat in the back right hand corner of the jet, the sceptre placed within a secure hold inside the cockpit. Nellie was reluctant to let go of it but she couldn't risk Loki trying something if it was in his sight.

The brunette was seated opposite him, her head was down, staring at her inky purple boots, wisps of her hair falling around her face concealing everything and everyone else around her. She felt their eyes burning holes into her as she kept her eyes down. She didn't want to talk, she didn't even want to acknowledge Tony. She was having a hard enough time trying to stop herself from bursting into tears and letting the intrusive thoughts of everyone she had lost win over.

Steve and Tony were standing side by side just behind the cockpit, their backs to the pilot, their body's facing Loki and Nellie, though it wasn't Loki they were watching. Steve's heart ached as he witnessed Nellie taking deep, calming breaths, sure that at any moment she could burst into tears. Tony Stark was an attachment to their old life, her family even, and he had just shut her down, completely uninterested and Steve knew that hurt her.

Tony, however, knew in his heart he was not uninterested in getting to know his Aunt. It was the fact he knew she looked just like his mother did, he wasn't able to face her, especially with it being the twentieth anniversary of his parents' death a month prior to Nellie seeking him out. He just couldn't do it. Especially mixed with the fact that he knew that his father originally had eyes for Nellie, and when she 'died' he moved on to the next best thing.

"Well this is an awkward family reunion." Tony broke the silence, cutting through the tension with a blunt, rusty knife. Fury had asked for his help after all, he couldn't completely ignore the people he had to work with... well, he could, it just wouldn't be productive.

Both Nellie and Steve snapped their heads towards him, her breath faltering once again as, now with his helmet removed, he looked even more like Howard, just twenty years older than she remembered. She saw reflections of her own face in his as well, in his hairline and the shape of his eyes and nose. Nellie clenched her jaw to stop herself from letting her eyes fill with tears. "Through no fault of your own." Nellie snapped at him, sounding a lot harsher than she intended, though, she was angry with him. "I tried to meet with you." She added, a little less venom in her voice, but she kept her eyes narrowed, piercing into his brown eyes.

Tony kept his face expressionless, trying to ignore the fact that Eleanor looked exactly like his mother did when he had misbehaved as a child. "I know."

Nellie blinked at him, surprised he admitted it so blatantly. Nellie stood to her feet, no longer being able to cope with looking up at him as if she was the one acting like a child. "So what, you just ignored it? Ignored me?" She seethed, trying to keep her voice low. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "Pretty much... I'm not one for sentiment." His face was blank... emotionless. "Or family, really." He looked away from her, catching a disappointed look from Steve, before he turned to face the cockpit.

All three of them knew that was a lie, he adored Arty and Barbara. He hardly saw them anymore but he still called once a month, wanting to know how they were doing or if they needed anything. Nellie glared at the back of his head wanting to strangle him. "Wow, your parents would really be proud." She chided, turning towards Steve, wanting nothing more than to curl up into his arms and cry. To hell with keeping her distance.

Tony whirled, his eyes black as he leaned over her. In the suit he stood at the same height as Steve, even with the added height of her boots there was still three inches between them. "Hey, I didn't come here to get a lecture from my child of an aunt, okay? I just saved your asses."