Unleashed {Marvel} ||3||

16. Home Sweet Home (AKA, The Crime Scene)

I was reluctant to step back into the apartment once Steve and I returned to it. He was the first one inside.

The inside looked nothing like a warzone, but nothing had been cleaned up since...

I was trying my hardest to not think about it.

"It got worse after you disappeared," Steve murmured. "Fury, he, uh, came here. Found himself shot here by..." He cleared his throat.

I chuckled nervously. "And you're sure we really want to stay here? I mean, this place has been, what, two crime scenes?"

"You got another place in mind?"

I pursed my lips. "I guess it'll have to do."

"Unless we pull some strings."

I looked at him questioningly. "What did you have in mind?"

"You've got a better connection with Stark. See if he's got any spare guest rooms in that...building of his."

I chuckled. "You hate it, don't you? The tower?"

"The old one I hated. The other one, I'm still not a fan of it, but it's an improvement."

"Let's clean whatever we can first, and then I'll see if I can get us a favor."

It was easy to see how long we had been gone; there was a small layer of dust on the kitchen counter. If anyone hadn't known any better, they would've thought we just up and left and had no intention of coming back. Well, we had up and left all right, just not for the reasons most would suspect.

Steve and I busied ourselves with cleaning things up. He put on a record, which calmed me. It was the song he'd played in here when we'd gotten settled in. The melody transported me back into an era that I had never known. It was the only soothing thing in my mind right now.

"Did you find my phone?" I asked Steve. I was in the main sitting area, he was searching through the bedroom. I hadn't taken it when I had ran out of the apartment that night.

"Not yet. If you have to, I'll let you borrow mine. Why do you need one, anyway? You've got that mind ability thing."

"It's nice to keep up with the times." I shrugged, noticing a bullet hole in one of the walls.

"Your powers do function. No more serum in you."

"Yeah, I get that. But I've kind of gotten used to using a phone. It anchors me to this world, a lot of the little things do."

"Ah, I believe you were looking for this?" Steve walked out of the bedroom, holding my phone in his hand. I reached for it, but he pulled it away, holding it over both our heads.

"Come on, Steve," I said tiredly. "Normally this would be cute, but right now, it's annoying."

"No, it's not."

"It is and you know it."

"I just want to see something out of you, something good. A smile, maybe?" He offered me a sheepish one.

I pursed my lips. I wanted to be able to give Steve what he wanted, but I couldn't right now. I was exhausted, this place didn't hold recent good memories. "How can you go on like nothing ever happened?" I asked sourly.

"Can't let the past weigh me down. Better to keep on going with life and enjoy the little things, which, apparently, keep you grounded here on Earth."