Ablaze {Marvel} ||2||

2. An Old Friend

The conversation over the phone had made me realize just how much I had missed Steve Rogers. Not in the creepy, stalker-fan-girl kind of way. More like the ally, friend kind of way. Because that's what Steve Rogers and I were: friends.

The talk hadn't gone quite the way I planned. It had started out as awkward small talk. We sort of caught up, though it didn't feel the same as physically telling him what was going on. He was out on missions here and there, nothing major or really life threatening. His news sounded far more interesting than mine ever did. But he'd told me it was good that I was trying to expand my strength and see what new abilities I could unlock with some experimentation. He also threw in a jab to "accidentally" burn down Stark Tower, but it didn't sound as serious as it would have been back during the Loki-Chitauri incident.

We somehow plowed through the awkward conversation, with me bringing up how we should see each other sometime to properly catch up. He'd brightened up a bit at that. We'd agreed to meet out somewhere neutral and in the public eye. Nobody outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and Todd knew who we really were.

So that was where I was today, at the outdoor café that provided the fantastic view of Stark Tower in rebuilding. The temperatures were more tolerable in March. But most of the tables were desolate. Few brave souls came dressed in layers to fight the bitter-to-most temperatures.

I'd had my coffee brought to me ten minutes ago. I couldn't cool it down, only make it hotter. You'd think being that I had fire on my side that being burned wouldn't be so bad. It was if it was my throat or my tongue.

I thought back to last year, the end of the year, how Steve had found me here before. How destroyed Stark Tower had looked back then. We'd just gotten through the Loki-Chitauri incident. My nightmares had started up shortly after the incident.

I looked up at the tower and shivered. All I could see were blasts of purple light and speeders. I could even picture Loki, myself, and Thor up on the tower, with me on Loki's side. I remembered my time on his side. How he had tried to rekindle something that was gone forever, that died with the him I had known. He had believed that we could have had something in the world that he wanted, the world that he saw. He'd been gravely mistaken.

Everything I have ever said to you, anything regarding feelings for you, those have never been lies. You may think I am lying as I say this, but I am not. No matter what, whatever happens to me, if our paths should never cross again, one thing will always remain the same. I will always love you. You may never return the same feelings again, and that is understandable. But there will never be another woman who has touched me like you have. I will never find a woman who accepted me for who I truly was.

I jumped a foot in the air as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder before relaxing. He gave me a rather uneasy smile, like he realized he was intruding on something.

"Did I catch you daydreaming?" he teased me.

I smiled thinly. "Sort of." I got out of my chair to hug him. "It's good to see you, Steve. I figured I'd let you tell the waitress what you wanted since I don't know what you like."

"That's all right." He took the seat at the other end of the table. I took in his attire. He still dressed a bit old-fashioned: flannel shirt, jacket over top. He looked like he belonged in a different era. It almost made me wonder if I looked like I belonged in a different realm like I had when I had first come to Earth even after Todd had changed my clothes. "So, where did we end?"

"On what?"

"Catching up."

"Oh, right, right." I shook my head, looking to my coffee to make sure it was done steaming. "You first. I've already told you what there is to know about me. You been with S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot, lately?"