HUMAN CONDITION | ❝There's bones in my closet, but you hang stuff anyway.❞
PRE-CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER | NATASHA ROMANOFF
A HERO OF HEROES BOOK
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TERRAN WAS HAVING A LAZY SATURDAY WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG. He had let himself sleep in for most of the morning, only getting up to make himself food before retreating back upstairs to work on his lesson plans until he found something else to do with his day. It had been looking like a completely calm day and he had been looking forward to it staying that way when the doorbell rang, sending everyone on high alert.
No one used the doorbell, and there were only a select few outsiders that even knew it existed.
Terran jumped out of bed and moved out into the corridor, looking as various tenants also stepped out of their rooms to see what was happening, gazes drawn first to the lobby, then, after glancing around at each other, rested on Terran, who was already preparing himself.
"Don't worry, you guys, just hang tight," he called, glancing over to Janelle who was also out of her room.
With a nod, he took a step back for a running start, grabbing onto the railing for support as he vaulted over the edge, falling into the open area within the staircase. He felt himself free fall for a moment before he was caught, the charm place in the building slowing his descent, as if a fan on the ground was keeping him afloat.
The doorbell rang again and Terran scoffed, hardly on the ground before he was starting forward, tripping slightly before righting himself, steeling himself for whomever might be outside the door; the list was so short that he couldn't help but guess who it might be.
"I'm coming, calm down," he called, reaching out and undoing all the locks and deadbolts, kicking at the button to temporarily disable the mechanical alarms, before finally being able to open the door.
He hesitated before actually opening it, his hand just resting on the door handle. He glanced back towards the stairs, just barely able to see some of the tenants who were still out, peering over the railings to catch a glimpse of who was paying them an unsolicited visit.
With one last deep breath, he pushed back his shoulders and opened the door, moving to rest his arm on the other side, blocking the visitor's view of the inside without seeming like too much of a suspicious recluse.
If anyone were to ask, he wouldn't have been able to decide on which person he had actually been expecting on the other side of the door, but he definitely wasn't expecting to see Nick Fury, complete with his eyepatch and flowing trench coat, standing next to a woman who was barely level with Terran's chest.
Terran didn't know how long he stood there staring at the two of them, but it was more than enough to get Fury to quirk an eyebrow and ask, "Is there a password I wasn't told about, or are you just waiting to see if we'll leave?"
The blond cleared his throat, moving to stand at his full height, though he gripped the door handle the way his shyer students did when they wanted to see if they could come in during recess to read instead of play kickball, which negated any self-assuredness he thought he had on the back burner.
