Heartlines | Steve Rogers

XXIX

TWENTY NINE
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She woke up the next morning, and she and Chris shared a moment of innocent bliss as they stared at each other. The sun shined beautifully on them as it peeked through the blinds. For a moment, both of them forgot what transpired the day before. It didn't take long for the memories to come flooding back. Meredith pulled on her usual outfit for when she was working in the lab, a tank top and a pair of jeans. When she walked out into the lounge with Chris behind her, everyone sat around each other in the lounge, just staring off. Thor, Rocket, Natasha, Rhodey, Steve, and Bruce. Natasha looked over at her with hope that maybe she'd figured something out. Meredith cleared her throat awkwardly. "Did you all get some rest?" They were silent for a moment, and finally, Bruce nodded his head. Meredith toyed with her fingers nervously. "Anything new?"

"Friday is still tracking, but there's no oddly proportioned signatures. That pager is still going, but we still haven't a clue what it's for." Bruce explained. She nodded in reply.

"Can someone try and go through all of Fury's files? I know that without him and Maria, there's really no way to access the important ones, but there's something about that pager. We need to know who it's for." She requested, and they all nodded, aside from Thor. He'd been completely silent ever since everything happened, just wearing an angry face. After what Thanos said to him and what happened, she'd be upset, too.

"Secretary Ross is on his way over. Says the world needs a statement to explain what's going on. I agree, we can't leave everyone in the dark. They're confused and scared." Rhodey informed her.

"I can do it." Meredith nodded. "How long?"

"Couple of hours at most." He replied.

"Leaves us enough time to get some stuff done. I guess all we can really do is go through those files, or find a more efficient way to track down Thanos. Tony, too." She decided. They all nodded in agreement, and got up from their seats.

"Is there anything I can do?" Chris asked her.

"Yeah. Yeah. You can help them go through the files if you want. I'd really appreciate it." She gave him a smile. He nodded.

"Of course." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. Steve wasn't excited about that. They went their separate ways, Natasha, Steve, and Rhodey going through files while Meredith, Rocket, and Bruce tried to find other tracking methods. Thor just sat there by himself, continuing to stare.

"Here are all the old S.H.I.E.L.D. files that were written by Fury. We've got a very dense bases here. Just scan them for anything that looks like that symbol." Rhodey pointed to the phone after he sat down the last dusty box. Chris wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but he just hoped he could be of some assistance. If they were going to help get these people back, they needed as much help as they could get. After a while of looking, they took a lunch break. The four of them sat there, eating a pizza. Chris hadn't said much, but Natasha and Steve had been eyeing him the entire time. He tried to ignore it and just focus on the files.

"So," Natasha swallowed her bite of food and sat up in her seat. "How did you meet Meredith?"

"Oh, um... I applied for a job at Stark Industries and came for a meeting after I moved here from California and I happened to run into Meredith outside. Quite literally run into her," He chuckled, but none of them laughed. "Um, well, then she hired me upon hearing about my skills in nanotechnology and we've been working together ever since. We just developed feelings for each other over time and I asked her on a date. She started to trust me and we've been together for several months. I'm really lucky to have her."