Sergeant Higgins/ Iron Man Lovestory

Purple heart

"I have to get you in a suit more." Tony smiled while they were driving in the orange Audi. "As Lenna or as Leonid?" "Yes." Tony smiled and stared at the road. "It wasn't a yes or no question, you know?" Lenna sighed. "I stand by my answer." Tony declared. "You are impossible, man." Lenna sighed and looked at Tony for a reaction but all she got was a wide grin. Tony had bought her a pack of cigarettes from a gas station after Lenna had whined long enough for him to give in. She had smoked the first one in that same gas station and was now stinking like cigarettes.

"So I'll go and meet Sam while you do whatever you do." Lenna said when they exited the car. "Sounds good." Tony smiled while he walked away.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Lenna called out in an seemingly empty room. "Yeah, in a minute." a soothingly familiar voice called out.

"Hi, I'm Samuel Wilson. Haven't seen you around." he introduced himself. "Leonid Hayward. And I believe you may know me as Sir Stranger or whatever Stark called me." Lenna smiled and offered him her hand. "Oh yeah, Sir Stranger. Tony has mentioned you once or twice. So what's up, man?" Sam asked while crossing his arms. "Well I was here to meet a very old friend but it appears that he doesn't recognize me." Lenna grinned widely and hit the empty trouser leg.

"I'm jumping into conclusions but Lenna?" Sam asked cautiously. "Yeah man! Good to see you." Lenna smiled. "What the fuck? I thought you were dead!" Sam hit her shoulder tipping her slightly off balance. "Well I was but I got Natasha's help message and hurried into trouble." Lenna chuckled. "Did you pick up smoking again?" Sam asked when he sniffed the air around Lenna. "Uh yeah. I thought it would suit Leonid." Lenna coughed embarrassed since Sam had been the one to pressure her to quit.

"Not happy, Sarge. Disappointed."

"Shut it. Without me you'd still be a rookie." Lenna chuckled.

"I have something for you. Wait a minute." Sam said before hurrying somewhere. Lenna checked her watch and smoothed her jacket a bit. "You were awarded this but since you were gone I took it in your name, Sergeant Higgins." Sam smiled and handed Lenna a small box. "Uh, alright. Thanks, partner." Lenna mumbled while opening the box.

"A purple heart." Lenna gasped. "I know it's not the silver star that you have or any of the others but it is something." Sam smiled. "I never thought that I would see that." Lenna caressed her thumb over the medal. "Wear it with pride." Sam smiled and hugged Lenna.

"I have to go. It was nice seeing you." "Same over here." Lenna smiled and closed the small box.

Lenna saw Tony, Thor and Steve walking in a long corridor towards the exit. "But if you but the hammer in an elevator..." Steve started. "It would still go up." Lenna called out from behind them. The three man turned around and waited for her to catch up. "Elevator's not worthy." Steve pointed out. "I'm going to miss these little talks of ours." Thor smiled and patted Tony and Steve on the back. "And I'm going to miss you too, my little gender switching friend." he laughed and pushed Lenna jokingly but she lost her balance and fell on the ground.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry, Lady Lenna." Thor gasped and helped her up. "Don't worry, Thor. I am not hurt." Lenna smiled. "What's that?" Tony asked and picked up the small box from the ground. He opened it up and eyed it. "It's the purple heart medal." Steve gasped and looked at Lenna. "I, yeah, um... I was awarded that." Lenna blushed a bit under the three man's observing eyes. Steve saluted her and when Lenna saw that she answered with the same. "Thank you for your service, Sergeant Higgins." Steve smiled and patted Lenna's shoulder. "Thank you, Captain." Lenna nodded.

Lenna watched as Thor was taken by a rainbow thing, which burned the grass under him into a beautiful pattern. "That man has no regard for lawn maintenance. I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me. There's going to be a lot of manful tears." Tony said to Steve. Lenna watched the burnt grass a little longer before catching up with Tony and Steve. She took out her pack.

"You alright?" Tony asked from Steve. "I'm home." he sighed out. Lenna looked at the huge compound again while putting out her cigarette and she could imagine what Steve could feel. "Hey, Legless, come on. We are going back to the tower." Tony called out. He was already in the car waiting for Lenna. "Yeah, I'm coming. Just let me finish." Lenna sighed out while walking towards the trash can to throw the cigarette butt away. "Sarge? You smoke?" Steve asked surprised. "Yeah, Cap. Deal with it." Lenna said while sitting into Tony's car, leaving Steve staring with his mouth wide open.

---

Lenna sat in the guest room of the tower. She stared infront of her at a suspicious stain in the carpet. It was red and it seemed like it had been washed many times. She startled out of her thoughts when she heard a loud knock. "It's open." Lenna yelled weakly. "I know it's open." Tony smiled when he came in. Lenna rolled her eyes and layed back on the bed.

"I just wanted to tell you that it is ready." Tony said after a moment of watching Lenna. "Great." Lenna mumbled. "We can do this tomorrow. It's pretty late. You should get some sleep." Tony said leaning against the door frame. "Yeah." Lenna replied quietly.

"Is everything alright? You don't seem very excited." Tony asked now walking towards Lenna. "It's just... It all hit me when Wilson handed me that box. I am a veteran. And I'm not even thirty." Lenna sighed and forced herself up. "If you hadn't retired you wouldn't have met me." Tony smirked and sat next to Lenna. "Thanks. It's very comforting. Also I have met you." Lenna sighed with sarcasm. "Watch that attitude, young lady. Wait what?" Tony asked confused and stood up.

"Yeah. Um... I guess I can say that I am the reason you don't like when people drove you." Lenna mumbled, not meeting Tony's questioning gaze. "You...? The sniper lady? I thought you died there." Tony gasped out.

"Quite alive as you can see. I took two bullets in my chest. Spent six months in the hospital. Lance and Jimmy weren't so lucky."

"I can't believe it. I'm surprised that I didn't recognize you!" Tony said while kneeling infront of Lenna. "I can't believe I forgot those hazel eyes."

"It's alright, Tony. I'm pretty tired right now. You know, I'm a veteran after all. Gotta get that nurishing sleep for my old bones." Lenna chuckled to avoid Tony's serious talk. "Yeah... Umm... I'll let you sleep then. Good night."

"Good night."

Lenna crawled under the blanket and turned off the bedside light. She fell asleep quickly.

---

Lenna found herself in the middle of nowhere. She looked around and saw only one man dressed in fully black.
"Hello? Can you hear me? Where am I?"
Lenna tried to walk closer to the man but with the first step she was down on the ground. She looked down where her feet were supposed to be but saw nothing. She tried to scream but it felt like her lungs were burning.
The man started walking closer to her.
"Hello, Sergeant Higgins. It's good to see you again."
Lenna tried to crawl away but her hands were stuck to the ground. She started hearing a faint voice yelling for her right before she felt a gun pressed against her forehead.

---

"Lenna! Lenna! Goddamn it woman, wake up! Lenna!!!" Tony tried to shake her awake. Lenna started screaming and she jolted up in the bed with her eyes fully open and her face covered with sweat. She breathed quickly and her eyes darted around in the room. When she noticed Tony next to her she screamed again and pushed herself to the other side of the bed falling out of it.

"Lenna! It's me Tony. Sweetheart, please, I'm not going to hurt you." Tony tried to soothe Lenna while walking cautiously around the bed. "Tony?" Lenna asked with a weak and broken voice. "Yeah, it's me. I'm here." Tony smiled and kneeled next to Lenna. "It's really you." Lenna sighed out and wrapped her arms tightly around Tony. "Yeah, it's me. I'm here." Tony whispered into Lenna's ear while standing up with her. He sat down on the bed but Lenna refused to let go.

"What time is it?" Lenna asked after a few quiet moment. "About 5am." Tony answered. "I'm scared, Tony."