Guardian Angel | Steve Rogers

17

When Arden realized Steve stopped staying at the compound, she started sticking around more. With no one to spar with she went through a few punching bags, her knuckles bruised from hitting it over and over again. 

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who someone really is." Steve's voice echoed in her head. 

"You are not to interfere with any human affairs. No wars, no fights, no relationships. You must keep your true identity hidden." Her mother's voice replayed. 

"Ah!" Arden shouted, hitting the punching bag hard enough for it to fly across the room. 

"Bad time?" A voice appeared into the room. 

Arden breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath, turning around slowly. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked, unraveling the wrap around her hands. 

"Apologizing." Tony answered, walking closer to her, handing her a water bottle. 

"You're about 4 months late." She scolded him, pretending to look at her wrist with no watch. 

Tony scoffed, nodding, taking a seat on the bench. 

"Yeah, well, Pepper wouldn't drag the wheel chair into the car so it took a while for me to come on my own." Tony defended. 

"I still don't hear an apology." Arden reminded him, tossing the wrappings in her bag. 

"I'm sorry." Tony apologized, Arden raising her brows for more. 

"I shouldn't have aired out your secrets like that. It wasn't my place, and I'm sorry." He added. 

She hesitated, looking at Tony to make sure he was being sincere and he was. She knew he didn't apologize often, if ever. 

"So how are you feeling?" She teased him long enough. 

He chuckled, standing to spin around to show her his healthy body. 

"A bit thin." She joked. 

"I'm working on it." Tony countered. 

She tilted her head for him to follow her, and he did. They walked out into the common area to sit down. 

"So, any word from your little boyfriend?" Tony brings up.

She sighs, turning on the tv. "Nope. And I don't think he will after your little slip up." 

"You try calling him?" 

"Yeah, like 100 times." She answered, choosing an episode of Friends. 

"Don't look so sad. I brought a gift." Tony smirked, taking a seat next to her. 

"Gift? What gift?" Arden asked, turning to him.

 He reaches into his pocket, holding up a key. 

"Little birdy told me you were looking for somewhere to live." He answered, wiggling the key around. 

"You think for being a spy, Nat would keep her mouth shut." Arden laughed. 

"So you want it or not?" Tony teased her. 

She snatched the key from his hand, playing with it. 

"Where is it?" Arden asked. 

"Penthouse in the city. You've got tons of toys to play with." He smirked. 

"Oh, a little hand-me-down?"

Tony scoffed. "Absolutely not. She's brand new. I needed something to do while you were gone and not annoying me, so I worked."