New Avenger (A Steve Rogers love story)

Exploring the Tower

I sat on the edge of my bed in Avengers Tower, Abby laying her head in my lap. 

Tony had fixed my window and had my sheets replaced over the two months I was in HYDRA's hands. Steve told me that he looked everywhere for me, and that Tony finally located my phone. That's how they found me and why it took so long.

I looked around the room. I never really paid attention to it until now. It was always just a place to sleep.

My room was a modern looking room, a desk against the wall to the right of the door, a small book case with a few books I asked for next to it. The wall opposite the door was glass and overlooked the city. The windows were made to turn black and block out the light with a voice command. To the left of the door was my bed. It was beautiful.

Tony even changed the color scheme of the whole room for me as a present. Before it was just white with silver details, very boring. Now, it had a calming green and white, adding some color. He even put a plant close to my bed.

The room was huge, about the size of all of Steve's old apartment. Most of it was empty, aside from the few bits of furniture I needed/wanted most. Tony had said that I would have to add more furniture to the room, if I wanted to. And I would, eventually. But right now, I wasn't in the mood to go to Ikea. Plus, Steve and I still had a few things in his apartment back in DC.

As I sat on my bed, I held an old black and white photo, looking at it. The edges were worn from being handled so much. In the photo was me and my family, the photo taken a week before the accident that took my family away.

A tear fell onto the old photo and I quickly wiped it away, not wanting to ruin it.

There was a knock at my door. Abby stood up and looked toward the door. I wiped away the tears and returned the picture to its spot on my bed-side table.

"Come in." I said.

Steve opened the door and walked in. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded as I stood up.

"Are you sure?"

I looked at him and smiled. "Steve, I'm fine."

"All right. Well, Tony wanted me to give you this." Steve handed me a simple silver bracelet. 

"What is it?" I asked, examining it.

"It's a tracker, in case we lose you again. Tony made one for everyone after you got back. It's not on all the time so that you still have privacy, but to turn it on and off, you press this." Steve pressed a well hidden button on the bracelet, showing me how it worked. 

I slipped the bracelet onto my left wrist where it fit perfectly.

"Sam is coming in an hour so we can discuss our progress with...Bucky. I thought I should let you know." Steve said our friend's name with a bit of sadness. We hadn't seen or heard of Bucky since everything that happened in DC.

"Okay. I'll see you later." Steve hugged me tightly.

As we parted, Steve smiled. I smiled too and kissed the tip of his nose. Steve continued to smile softly as he combed his hand through my short hair. I always had long hair, and I felt a little insecure with it being so short. Because of the terrible way it was cut, Tony made sure I was given a new, better hair cut. My hair was cut to just below my ears, my side bangs also cut shorter. Nat also cut her hair, but not quite as short as mine.

"I know how you feel about your hair, but it's not bad. It looks really good. I love it." Steve planted a kiss on my forehead.

I smiled. "You do?"

He nodded.

I hugged him and kissed his fuzzy cheek. He still hadn't shaved since before I went missing, and I really liked it.

"Well, I love your fuzzy beard." I smiled.

"Really?" Steve asked in shock.

"Yeah, it's cute."

"I've never grown a beard before." He rubbed his head nervously.

"Well, I like it." I pressed my lips to his for a moment.

Steve smiled as we parted and he left the room.

Ryan was going to visit, but he wouldn't be at the tower for a couple more minutes, so I decided Abby and I would explore a bit on our own. I quickly changed into athletic shorts and a tank top -- my new favorite outfit -- and left the room with Abby, heading for the lab.

Tony was working on a new Iron Man suit, while Bruce was working on some notes about my 'thermal vision'.  

"Oh, hey Alexx. It's good to see you're up and walking now." Bruce smiled. 

"Yeah, it feels good." I walked around toward Tony to see what he was doing.

Tony wore welding gloves on his hands and his usual lab outfit; black tank top and dark ripped jeans covered in stains. 

"So, Tony, how's the new suit? It's looking good."

"Thanks. It's got several upgrades. The last time I used it I realized I needed more things." He shrugged.

Tony continued to work on his suit, not paying much attention to me. Bruce was also not doing much with me, so I just turned and left the room.

"Miss Monroe, Mr. Bishop is in the living room waiting for you." JARVIS informed.

"Tell him I'll be right there, please. Thank you, JARVIS." I replied.

"Of course, Miss Monroe."

I started walking toward the living room. When I got there, Ryan was sitting on the couch. 

"Ryan!" I exclaimed, smiling as I saw him.

"Alexx!" Ryan came toward me and gave me a big hug.

Abby whimpered as she trotted into the room. Ryan knelt down and picked her up. "Hey, Abby." he smiled. Abby licked his cheek happily, excited to see him. Ryan looked at me again. "Your hair looks good short."

"Thanks." I smiled. "Now, let's explore this place. It's huge, so there has to be something good, right?"

Ryan nodded and put Abby down. "There better be."

I started to lead the way as Ryan, Abby and I wandered around the tower. I knew that I needed to avoid the lower floors due to Jess. 

There wasn't much to see, some of the floors just had rooms full of storage, others with Stark interns and workers. After about an hour, we got bored and hungry. Using the elevator, we went upstairs to the kitchen where we made a simple lunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Abby got some dog kibble.

Steve eventually joined us, sitting at the table with Bucky's folder in hand. Sam was to arrive at any minute. 

After a moment of looking through the folder, we heard Sam.

"Hey everybody." He walked over to us. "Any luck finding anything yet?" 

I shook my head and sighed. "Nope." I stood up and we hugged. "But I think with you here, we should find something."

"Hey, what's this?" Sam moved away from me with a feather in his hand.

"Oh, right, it's been a while. So, uh..." I opened my wings a bit. "A bit may have changed while you were gone."

"You...You have real ass wings?!" Sam became excited. 

"Yeah, they hurt pretty bad to grow, but I got 'em." I smiled. "Oh, and just the other day I got thermal vision. It makes my eyes glow, but right now it gives me a headache. I haven't learned to control it yet."

"Wow, that is...that's honestly badass, Alexx. Congrats." Sam pat my back.

"Thanks." 

Steve looked at Sam. "Did you find anything while you were gone?" 

"Nothing." Sam shook his head, defeated.

"Don't worry, Steve. We'll find him." I promised.