War

Chapter 19

Janis' POV

   My morning started like any typical morning these days. Got up at the ass crack of dawn, ran with the boys, and came home for a good cup of coffee. It was the usual morning hustle and bustle around the kitchen when we got back, as everyone had just gotten up for coffee and breakfast also. I had 2 hours left on my intermittent fasting timer, so I skipped out of the waffles and poured myself a big mug of bitter bean water.

"Want any?" I turned to Steve, holding the pot in my hand. He held out his mug for me to pour.

"Damn, Janny! All that training is paying off, eh?" Wanda said as she walked by us. I knew I had toned up a bit but I didn't think it was that noticeable. "Are those abs I see?" She gestured to my slightly bare midriff. I had been a bit more experimental with my clothing choices since the museum event, so my current gear (https://shoplook.io/outfit-preview/5732782) was a far reach from what I was used to. I wanted to take the compliment, but I didn't feel all that different from what I usually do as far as my body.

"Barely, I got a ways to go before I'm sporting a washboard like yee Captain over here." I joked, pointing at Steve. I was taking a sip of my hot coffee when my dad changed the subject of the conversation.

"So I'm looking to settle a bet. If you got married- and don't get any ideas, it's hypothetical- would you change your last name or keep Stark? Or would you do, like, a hyphenated situation?" He asked, glancing over at Uncle Rhodey who was clearly the one who was in on the bet. I rolled my eyes,

"I would probably hyphenate, but I don't really see marriage as a big deal so the last name change I've already undergone will likely stand as long as I live." I stated, taking another sip of coffee. My dad clapped once, in triumph, and held out his hand to my uncle.

"You're washing my car." He proclaimed. Uncle Rhodey and he then started an argument over how he didn't win because my dad said I'd likely keep the Stark name and mentioned nothing about the hyphen. "If it's hyphenated, it's still keeping the last name!"

"Wait, number one: why wouldn't you change your last name? That's sort of a traditional thing for the woman to take the name of the man. Number two: what do you mean marriage isn't a big deal?" Steve butted into the conversation, picking apart my answer. I shrugged,

"Well, as someone who has been through the name change thing before, it's really annoying to have to remember to sign things under the new name. Like I would put 'Janis Jacobs' on stuff all the time and then I would have to scribble out 'Jacobs' and write 'Stark' next to it. If it's hyphenated, I can go back and- say we get married- put a hyphen and then Rogers after Stark. None of that scribble business." I explained. Before I could continue with his second question, my dad cut in.

"See, she even puts Stark first in her explanation. Totally counts, so I wanna be able to see my reflection in the paint." He continued to tell my uncle. I opted to not comment on that and went on to my next point.

"As for number two, it's the 21st century. Domestic partnerships are recognized, so you can live together, raise kids together, and all that fun stuff without marriage. It's pretty much a scam and commitment doesn't have to stop at a ring and legal hoopla." I told him. Steve thought about it for a moment, clearly unsure of if he agrees with my point or not. I understood he still has a lot of old-fashioned values, but I stood by how I feel on the subject. I got a buzz on my phone and pulled it up to look, then noticed that Bucky got a buzz at the same time. We're being called on for a mission, which will be my first two-man operation thus far.

   When Bucky and I made it to France, we had our orders and plan fully mapped out. Our last mission here took us to Grenoble, this time we're in Lyon scoping out new intel from a different HYDRA sister facility. The last place came up empty, besides the mountain of obvious bad actors that rolled through. This place, on the other hand, was full of tech and lacking people when we arrived. We took pictures of everything we could, then I came up on a computer and had to get everything I could off of it. I stepped out of my suit (https://shoplook.io/outfit-preview/5732201),

"Sentry mode," I said, triggering the suit to close up and extend its palm out for extra coverage. I gained access to the computer in a few short seconds and hooked my drive up to it to import all files.

"How many languages do you know?" Bucky asked, noticing I was having no trouble making my way through the logs that were all in French.

"So far, only five. English, French, Spanish, Russian, and American sign language." I explained, still staring at the screen that displayed a 40% progress bar.

"Must be in your genes to be a super genius" He joked. I shrugged,

"Maybe so, but everyone has room for improvement," I said. The progress bar made it to 65% when out of nowhere, a timer popped up in the lefthand corner of the monitor, counting down from 2 minutes. I was confused but unable to look further into it from where I was. I supposed if this finished before the timer went off, we could leave without having to find out.

"You know, Steve has talked about marrying you before." He told me, unprovoked. I turned my head and looked at him with confusion,

"Seems a little soon for all that talk, Barnes." I said, hoping that would dissolve the conversation.

"I know it, I'm only telling you as a friend to you both that he was a little bummed about how you feel." He informed me. I sighed,

"I was just being honest. I may change my mind one day, you never know."

"What would you say if he proposed in, say, 6 months?" He wondered, obviously giving a hypothetical. I was getting a bit frustrated at the topic.

"Dude, I'm just going to give it to you straight. It'll be a no, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be with Steve." I said, irritated with the questioning. The import was completed and I got back into my suit after putting the drive in my pocket. "Right now, we gotta jet. I have an inkling that this place is going to blow here in about 30 seconds." When I said that, Bucky noticed the timer on the monitor and began to run as I flew through. We made it out the doors and a couple of feet away when an explosion from behind us knocked us further forward.

   We grabbed a bite to eat on the way back and discussed in better detail my reasoning for being against marriage. I explained to him that whether Steve proposes in six months or six years from now, if my opinion is the same then I will decline if I'm happy where we are. I told him that marriage is not the only way to prove commitment to a significant other, and if you aren't comfortable with the boyfriend/girlfriend title, you can still call someone your wife or husband without all the extras. I mentioned that in 10 years from now if Steve and I have a kid and a picket fence and all that jazz but are still unmarried, he would still be a husband to me at that point.

"I have a feeling that there's more to this for you than just divorce rates and sticking it to the man by being against legal entrapment." Bucky pointed out, taking a bite from his burger.

"You may be right, but I'm not quite ready to talk about that yet," I told him. "Maybe one of these days. For now, though, I'll just leave you with what I've told you. Marriage is not on my big list of things to do before I die, Buck."

"Who said anything about you dying? Death's gotta go through a whole team of people before he can get to you. What are we at now? A genius father, A big green monster, an android, a witch, a demigod, a speedster, two soldiers, two highly trained assassins, and two modified super soldiers?" He joked, counting everyone out on his hands. I shook my head, knowing he was just playing around.

"I will not stand for anyone sacrificing themselves for me, man. I'm kind of a badass now."