Unexpected

Pie, Phone Calls, and a Special Request

I stood outside the door, my nerves bubbling up from my stomach to my throat. Why was I so nervous? This was nothing, seriously, just a nice little thing to do. I have faced down international baddies and invading aliens, gosh darn it! Knocking on a neighbor's door shouldn't be so hard! She might not even be home. Just knock.

Finally, I raised the doorknocker and rapped it against the door a few times, then waited, holding the saran wrapped plate. After a few seconds I heard footsteps approaching before the door swung open to reveal a confused-looking nurse dressed in periwinkle scrubs and white nurse shoes. "Well, this is a surprise. Penny, right?"

"Sharon, hi!" I greeted her genially, trying my very hardest not be as awkward as I really am. Honestly, this was all feeling kind of weird though. I mean, I haven't had the occasion to talk to Steve and my neighboring nurse since I'd nearly barreled into her last time I'd taken care of little Ana and Lillian. She must be wondering what in the world I would have to say to her that I would go knocking on her door, "I, uh... well, um... so, here's the thing. I had Steve, you know, the tall blonde guy from across the hall? That one, well, I had him over last night and I baked a whole pie, but we only each had a slice you see, so I have so much pie left over and usually that wouldn't be an issue because I would give him half or something, but he's going to be gone for a long while and I simply can't eat a whole pie by myself... I mean, I guess I could, but I shouldn't, so I figured that I'd bring you and the family with the little girls a floor down from us pieces of the pie and-"Suddenly I cut myself off, my ears already hot as coals as I realized I was rambling again. Why did I do this when I got nervous?

Sharon's eyebrows had slowly crawled up her forehead in a confused, amused expression at my long explanation, her lips obviously trying to hold back a giggling smile, "Uh huh?"

I cleared my throat, holding out the plate I had been gripping so hard that the paper edge of it had started to bend a little, "So, long story short, I brought you some pie. I hope you like it. I know not everyone is into pie, but I thought you might enjoy it. It's nothing weird or anything, just cherry. I was hoping to catch you before you headed off to your job for the day."

"Thanks." She said accepting the plate from me, "That's very kind of you."

"Oh, no problem!" I smiled, "Uh, I've got to head off to work now, but it was very nice seeing you again."

"You too. See you around."

I waved at her as I headed down the hall as she closed the door to her. Honestly, she was so nice it seemed. Too bad she's even more of a hermit than I. She only seemed to leave for her shifts after Steve and I were gone and she'd be back before either of us returned usually, the only indication of her being there being the light that I'd see seeping through the bottom of her apartment door. I should really be a better neighbor and put in more of an effort to talk to her. Maybe I'd invite her over sometime while Steve was gone. Heaven knows I'd enjoy the company as both of my closest friends were off being the Black Widow and Captain America. Last time both of them had left on missions I had fallen into a strange type of loneliness and I really didn't want to face that again.

When I got to the Triskelion, I soon became busy with a video call with Xi'an, China. I was notified of it by Jenkins almost as soon as I stepped through the huge building's doors into the lobby. She quickly brushed me along, her own arms occupied with an open laptop and several folders packed almost to exploding with papers. It was evening in Xi'an whilst it was still rather early in the morning here.

Apparently S.H.I.E.L.D. was working with some manufacturing companies across the seas for specialized bearings for quinjets and our armored vehicles. It seemed that some documentation went wrong and usually the orders placed in English would be no problem except that the blueprints for this specific bearing design needed to be very exact and was not understood by the specialized mechanical engineer who would be building it so he and the original scientist and designer of the piece needed to talk directly to each other to work the issue out. The problem was that the Chinese bearing maker could only speak Mandarin whilst the scientist who was working on some new super amplified, yet energy conservative engine could only speak English and French considering that he was French Canadian. That's where I needed to step in in real-time, which was difficult considering I have no knowledge or understanding of the intricacies of chemicals and mechanical design.