Temper in Red *Editing*

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

I stood on a balcony and overlooked the party that Stark had put together a few days after they'd recovered me in Sokovia. In just a few days Bruce had helped me get healthier, though my powers were still dormant from the drugs I'd been given. No one knew of that though, I didn't want them to know. I didn't want them to worry about me anymore. That was the last thing that I needed from any of them.

As I watched over everyone as they mingled I tossed the small cell phone that Hill had given me back and forth in my hands, debating on whether or not to make the calls that I knew I should have made my first night in the tower. For months the team had gone without word on me, likely believing that I was dead. If they had thought that there was no doubt in my mind that Coulson had taken it upon himself to alert the others at the school. All of my friends likely thought I was dead when I was alive. They had likely mourned for me when they had no true reason to. I knew that they all deserved to know the truth, but it almost felt as though something was keeping me from dialing their numbers.

"I heard you were back, but I thought it was too good to be true." A familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Sam standing there, a large grin in place.

"There's a face I never thought I'd see again." I smirked as he pulled me into a hug before stepping back again.

"Steve told me that you were suspected to have died on a mission." He told me. "What happened?"

"There was a language barrier." I shrugged it off as I glanced around below, spotting everyone joking around with one another, as though there were no troubles in the world. I glanced down at the phone in my hands. "I actually need to make a call, do you mind?"

"Go on ahead," he shook his head. "I'm sure the special man is wondering where you are."

"What?" I frowned as he walked away, heading back down to the party. It took me a minute to connect what he had said and the ring on my finger. I opened my mouth to correct him, but he was already halfway down the stairs. Shaking my head I let it go and turned my attention back to the phone in my hands. I began to dial the familiar number before bringing the phone to my ear, listening to it ring.

"Coulson." He answered on the third ring. I couldn't help but smile at the sound of his familiar voice.

"What? No hello?" I scoffed.

"Falconeri?" I could hear the disbelief in his voice as he practically whispered my name. He almost seemed as though he were in awe.

"Nice to see that you remember me." I joked.

"Where are you?" He asked me. "May can be at your location in two hours tops."

"I'm fine Coulson, well, mostly fine." I frowned at I glanced at my free hand, silently willing it to catch fire, but it didn't.

"What happened?" He asked. "We got word that you'd been compromised a few days after you left for your mission. We all thought you were dead."

"Turns out that the HYDRA base wasn't as abandoned as we had thought. I got captured not an hour into the mission." I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck as I spoke. "I just got out a few days ago, Stark and Rodgers found me when they were raiding the base. They brought me back to New York and have been helping me get back in shape and what not."

"Stark, so they know." I could almost see him frowning as he said this, knowing that my survival was supposed to be a secret.

"Yes, but not everything." I assured him. "No one knows about the team."

"That's good." He sighed.

"Coulson...did you- did you tell them?" I struggled to get the question out, not wanting to hear the answer.