Frostbite

Three

There was a buzz from the touch pad just as I finished putting the final touches of makeup on. I had left my hair curly and put it into a half up-do, so that was done, too.

I pushed a button on the screen in my room to open the elevator for him below. While I waited, I put my shoes on. Then I hurried out into the hall just as Steve rounded the corner. I heard his breath catch and he stared at me wide-eyed. I couldn't tell if he liked the dress or thought it was ridiculous.

It had a low, V-cut neckline, with a cinched, thick beaded detail along the waist. The full, A-line skirt was navy blue, made in a luxurious organza with a front thigh high slit. The bodice consisted of black velvet.

"Is it too much? It's too much. I told the woman in the shop it was, but she insisted-" I began to ramble in dismay, but he cut me off.

"No, no! You look beautiful Melanie," he smiled at me warmly. I exhaled in relief.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Cap" I told him, smirking. He was wearing a black tuxedo and had slicked his hair back. He was handsome as hell.

"Thanks. Are you ready to go?" he asked, glancing at his watch. I nodded, and we got into the elevator. He opened my car door for me once we reached it.

The drive itself wasn't very long. When Steve pulled up to the entrance, a valet approached us. Steve got out and walked around to my side as the valet opened my door for me. Steve handed him the keys and mumbled something to him, too low for me to hear. The man was grinning to himself as he walked away.

"What did you say to him?" I prodded curiously as we ascended the stairs.

"Just that if anything happened to your baby, he'd have to answer to me, because I have to answer to you. And if I'm going down- so, is he," he admitted with a smug look. I shook my head exasperatedly and walked through the entrance.

"I didn't know you have a tattoo," he announced in surprise. I did have one on the back of my shoulder for my parents. It was a monogrammed S, for Stark, with a simple saying lining the underneath. It said: "I am because you were".

"Yeah. I got it when I came home. I never really got over my parent's deaths," I admitted. He smiled sadly at me and offered his elbow to me, which I took as we climbed the last set of stairs to the ballroom.

"I like it; it has meaning. Are there any other tattoos or piercings, or-," he began to tease.

"I guess you'll have to find out, huh?"

He gave me a scolding, pointed look, but didn't say anything, because we entered the ballroom and were surrounded by people. Steve whistled under his breath, looking around the room in amazement.

I had to admit that I was impressed, too; it was gorgeous. The room was dimly lit, with soft purple and blue lights. All the tables were covered with fine China, candles, and roses. They were set around a stage and screen, leaving the wooden dance floor open for later in the evening.

"I've been to plenty of these things, and some of them are actually fun," I whispered to him encouragingly as we navigated to our seats.

"I'm out of my element here. I'm just a soldier," he groaned back.

"You're far from just a soldier. You belong here more than a lot of these people," I told him a little too loudly, attracting some looks of disapproval, so I lowered my voice again, "It'll be fine, relax."

He nodded, still looking around impressed. We found our table to the left of the stage, near the front. No one else had arrived yet, and I peeked at the other name cards as Steve pulled my chair out for me. One of the names I happened to recognize and sucked in a breath. Aldrich Killian.