Still Counting Her Tears

From the Outside Looking in

An: Sorry about this chapter. I really don't like it, but I think the next one will make up for it. I've started the next story in this trilogy. It's gona be a lot more exciting than this one, so don't 4get 2 look for it when I'm done with this story. PLEASE REVIEW! And tell your friends about this story too!

Steve Rogers:

It hurt. What hurt you ask? Everything. My stomach, legs, arms, head, and my muscles were real sore. They all hurt. But then gave me medication a few minutes ago, so I prayed that I'd be fine in a few minutes.

Dispite the pain, I found my way downstairs. There were voices in the kitchen, so instinctively, I went there.

"...and your name is Clint Barton, and your name is Thor? Just Thor?"

"Yes, my lady," I could hear Thor say from outside the kitchen door.

"It's nice meeting you both," I heard an unfamiliar voice say. "But now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure Tony isn't making a mess with Rhodey."

At that second, I decided to walk in, but I bumped into a tall, pretty, blonde, sophisticated young lady trying to walk out the door. A mix between strawberry and sandy blonde to be exact. Wow,I thought. Ahhhhh! I sighed.

"Excuse me for asking, but who's this," I asked Clint. Before he could respond, Thor butted in.

"This is Virginia Potts. She is Man of Iron's latest masterpiece!" I looked at Thor, confused.

The girl looked at me, with a bright smile, holding out her hand for me to shake it. "Hi. I'm Pepper Potts. And no, I'm not Tony's masterpiece. Just his girlfriend."

Ugh,I thought, sulking inside. She's taken.

I shook her hand and said, "Oh, hello. I'm Steve Rogers. It's nice to meet you Ms. Potts."

Pepper seemed surprised. "Wow. Its nice to meet you too. Captain America right? Mr. Stark's favorite..."

It was my turn to be surprised. "I'm Tony's favorite?"

Pepper laughed. "Sorry, but I was referring to the late Howard Stark."

My expression died. "Oh...God bless his soul."

Pepper scoffed. "Why? Why should God bless his soul? He's dead. What does it matter?"

I shrugged. "Well, I'm a Catholic. I believe that when you dye, your soul goes to purgatory to pay for your sins and after that, you either go to heaven or hell. I just pray Howard went to heaven."

"You guys must been good friends for you to want to pray for him," Pepper mumbled, looking down. I couldn't tell what she was thanking, but it seemed to bother her.

"No...," I said cautiously. "But I'd be dead right now if he hadn't helped become this," I said, motioning to myself. "I really look up to him is all. He really helped me out a lot."

Pepper's eyes fell on something somewhere behind me. "I'd like to hear more about that Catholic stuff later,okay, but right now..." her voice drifted off.

Tony roughly brushed passed me, grabbing Pepper by the waist, hugging her from behind. "Right now, it's us time," Tony said, pecking Pepper on the cheek, making her blush.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. In that case, I'll go back to what I was doing before," I said, awkwardly walking over to already open refrigerator and scanned its contents. I never wanted to get in between Tony and his girl. No telling what crazy things that lunatic would do to me. Even worse if he was drunk, which he is a lot of the time.

I listened intently to the conversation going on behind me:

"Did you finish your food?" Pepper asked Tony.

"You already know the answer to that," he said.

"No, actually, I don't. But maybe I would've known if you came and ate with me. Instead, I had to sit on the balcony with Natasha, Thor, and Clint. Not that I don't like them, but...," Pepper tried to explain.

"Wait a second!" Tony interrupted. "What about Banner? He wasn't there?"

I turned around to see Pepper silently shake her head, confused at Tony's sudden change of emotion. "No, he wasn't."

Tony slammed his fist into the wall, making me jump. Never know what Tony'll do,I sternly reminded myself.

"JARVIS! Where's Banner! I need to know, now!" Tony yelled anxiously to the AI.

"Sir, he's not in the building." JARVIS started. "Collecting data from street cameras...Sir, the Hulk has been spotted on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New..."

"I know where that is, JARVIS! Just power up the Mark VII armor and don't say a word to anyone about this."

JARVIS replied, "Immediately, Sir."

Tony started pacing around the room, but stopped when Natasha spoke. "What about the rest of us. We're on your team too."

Tony looked up. "Oh, right. Thor, I'll need you to try to knock Bruce out. If not, you can keep him busy and Barton can take care of everything else."

Now it was my turn to speak up. "What about Natasha and I? What do we do?"

Tony gave me a sidewards glance before saying, "Nothing. You two aren't needed for this technical mission."

I wanted to punch Tony and tell him he wasn't in charge, but that would be uncivilized and childish. Natasha looked frustrated too. "Tony, again, we're still part of the team. We need to do something."

The billionaire pulled out his phone and started texting. Without looking up, he said, "Yeah, well, sometimes missions only require certain qualities. This mission doesn't require your qualities. And don't want to take anyone we don't need out there before people get hurt again."

Natasha glared at Tony. "Well, if your so worried about people getting hurt again, maybe your the one that should home!" Then she stormed out of the room.

There was silence for a few seconds, while a lump rose my throat. Tony finally looked up from his phone. "Are y'all ready? Every second we wait wastes time and money."

Thor stood up. "I am ready, Man of Iron." The Mjollnir flew into his hand, and Thor held it high. Thinks he's God,I thought to myself. But he isn't.

Clint was a bit reluctant. I would be too if I were him. Tony shouldn't have made Natasha feel worthless like that. But despite his feelings against Tony, he stood and mumbled, "I'm going to find my arrows." With that, he left the room.

Tony was about to follow Clint out, but Pepper pulled him back into the room. "Tony, isn't this very dangerous?"

I watched Tony's reaction carefully. He turned to look straight at Pepper. "Of course. All of our missions are dangerous."

Pepper sighed. "Maybe Natasha's right. Maybe you should stay home too. You know, with your ankle and stuff..."

Tony looked away from Pepper. I sensed that, whatever he'd told her, was wrong. He lied to her. Something in his face told me he had more than just a twisted ankle. Way more than that. "Pepper, I'll be fine. I've got protection." He paused. "And besides, I'm sure Rogers will be praying for us, won't you Rogers."

I looked up at Tony, a little bit offended. "Sure, anytime," I said, giving him a fake smile. If Tony keeps joking his life away, one day, he'll end up with nothing left. I just hope he realizes that before it's too late...

AFN: I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit boring. The next chapter will make up for this one. So don't worry. If there are any suggestions for things you'd like to see in this book or the ones to come, please review!