Something To Marvel At :||: Steve Rogers

4.2 'Bad Language Word'

James Rhodes played by Don Cheadle

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Ariana, Giselle, Tori and I stood on the second floor overlooking the main foyer, where most of the party guests mingled. Aligning with Tony's taste, the room had a modern feel to it and minimalistic art sculptures hanging around the room. The low lighting and soft classical music cast a calm mood over the party, allowing for dull chatter. I noticed Banner awkwardly moving about the room, his introverted nature causing him to skirt around the edge of the crowd to avoid talking to people, while Thor animatedly entertained the old wartime heroes sitting on the cluster of single couches on one side of the room. Natasha and Rhodey sat in another set, talking quietly to one another.

"You didn't tell us you were retiring?!" Tori nudged me with a playful smile. She was a lot younger than the three of us and someone I had taken under my wing when she first arrived on the modelling scene. "How long have you had this idea?"

"Why do you have this idea?" Giselle was around the same age as me and would probably retire in a few years. "With a figure like yours, you could be modelling well into your fifties."

Ariana smirked slyly behind her drink, not wanting to tip the other girls off that she had known before anyone that I would be leaving. The two of us had been walking the catwalk side-by-side in shows for the last decade and after the rise and fall of some girls and the backstabbing of others, she was the only one I was particularly close to.

"Mmmm," I shrug casually, the tassels of the fringe trim dress I wore swaying slightly. "It's time, plus I'm an Avenger now and there is no shortage of people around the world who need saving."

The girls nodded, raising their champagne glasses. Glancing down, I watched Steve and Sam move around the pool table, Steve absolutely whooping his friends ass. "Ugh!" Sam threw his hands up in exasperation, a playful smile on his face. "Where's Izzy? I need her to help me out, she can level the playing field."

Steve looked up, finding me watching him and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards. He gestured with his pool cue, pointing me out to Sam, who beamed and gave me a wave. "That's because she cheats," Steve joked with a smirk.

"More like gives me an edge by distracting a certain someone," Sam glanced at Steve out of the corner of his eye, smugly taking a sip of his beer.

"I think I can still manage to distract him from up here," I called down and the boys shared a laugh.

The girls silently watched the exchange, the keen eyes of Giselle glancing between us. Noticing, Ari hooked her arm in mine, dragging me away from the pair, toward the stairs. "Come on, let's go refill our drinks and drop you off to your man." She whispered the last part.

Steve and I were both very public figures as part of the Avengers team with separate images and reputations. We hadn't made a formal announcement that we were together but we hadn't made any effort to dispel the rumours that had been flying around for the last ten months either. It's not like we were trying to keep our relationship a secret, we were both very private. I'm not even sure if he wanted or cared about making us public, our friends and family knew we were together and that's all that mattered.

My dress swished around me as we came down the stairs, heading for the bar. My hair was curled up in a bun, whisps of it dangled around my face, letting the dress shine the most. The silvery material glinted in the dim lights, weaving in and out of the guests. Thor, Tony and Rhodey were at the bar by the time we got there.

"Isabelle!" Rhodey grinned.

I embraced my old friend. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's been too long," He nodded and held up his whisky. "Where's your drink?"