Cooking for the Avengers

6. Tempers Flare

Hey hey! So i did a mock up of what my main characters and some others look like on the Sims. Pictured above is Jemma, Allison, Stephanie, and Jason; in that order. Thanks for reading!

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I take the mini quiches out of the oven and place them on the cooling rack. "Oh shut up Jemma, you sounded pretty dumb yourself!" Removing the oven mitt from my hand, I turn to her and smirk. ""Don't worry about us James, we can handle whatever you've got!" Like really Jemma?"

Stephanie stopped stirring the pancake batter and gasped. "Jemma! Did you really call him... James?" She whispered his name as though it was a bad word and she would get in trouble for just thinking it. Stephanie looked at Jemma in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Yes Steph!" Jemma shrugged. "What's the big deal? That IS his name isn't it!" Her tone gave off the impression that she found it annoying to be questioned about it.

Stephanie looked down and resumed her stirring, slower this time. "Yes, but... I don't know... it-it just sounds wrong to say it!" She met Jemma's eyes. There was fear beneath her hazelnut eyes. She, like most people, still thought of Bucky as the Winter Soldier. Fearing he would one day snap, reverting back to the merciless assassin he once was.

Jemma stops pouring the batter in the muffin tins and looks down at Stephanie. Jemma had about five inches on the poor girl. Stephanie straightened her back, trying to appear taller than she really was. Jemma cocked her head smiled, speaking through her teeth she said "Why Stephanie? What would you rather I call him? The Winter Soldier?"

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Jemma. Before she could say anything, I intervened. "Come on guys, let's not do this!"

Stephanie held out her hand. "No Allison, I think we should! No one can ever say anything bad about Bucky around Jemma without her jumping down their throat!" she crossed her arms. Jemma was seething. "What's your problem Jemma?" Stephanie taunted. "What, do you like him or something?"

"You wanna know what my problem is? My problem is people like you who assume the worst of others th-"

"HE'S A MURDERER JEMMA!" Stephanie shouted.

Jemma slammed the muffin tray onto the counter causing some of the batter to splatter everywhere.

I jumped at the sudden sound and silence echoed throughout the kitchen as the other workers all stopped to look.

Jemma's chest heaved rapidly as a blood red hue encompassed her cheeks. She opened and closed her mouth several times, as if trying to decide what to say. She huffed through her nose and her mouth snapped shut, spreading into a hard line.

I reached out for her "Jemma..." but she backed out of my reach, shaking her head. "You just don't understand." She said sternly.

Stephanie furrowed her brow and looked to Jemma with concern. "Do you?" she whispered.

Jemma looked around the kitchen, finally noticing all the attention she was drawing to herself. She spun around and stalked out. "I'm taking the day off. Allison, you're in charge." She called as the double doors swung shut behind her.

I was completely stunned. I'd never seen her blow up that way before in public. When it's just us, sure! She'll explode in order to vent her feelings, but this? She hated letting others see her loose control.

Everyone around me continued what they were doing, but I couldn't let it go. Stephanie poured the batter onto the griddle with a sigh. I walked over to her and leaned against the counter with my arms crossed. "So... what just happened?"

Stephanie kept her eyes down as she addressed me. "I don't really know. When Bucky joined the team a few months back, she started getting all twitchy." She shook her head and started flipping the pancakes. "We just figured she had a crush on the guy." She shrugged. "I mean, he is pretty cute... once you get past the hair..."

Stephanie turned to me suddenly with an intense look in her eyes. Inhaling sharply, I instinctively backed away but had nowhere to go.

"He's dangerous Allison." Her expression hardened as her voice hovered above a whisper. "Jemma doesn't understand. She thinks he's changed." She laughed bitterly. "But she's just blind to the truth."

A burning smell hit my nose. I looked to the left and saw the pancakes turning dark. "Stephanie..."

Her grip tightened and I looked back to her. Tears shimmered in her eyes. Her voice was shaky and she spoke as if from experience. "Help me Allison. We need to protect her... before something bad happens..."she drew in a long breath. "Please?"

Stephanie stood still, waiting for an answer. I bit my lip and nodded once. Her shoulders relaxed as her arms dropped to her side. Looking to the now black pancakes, she cursed and started scraping them into the trash.

I stepped away from her, rubbing my arms. I had apparently stepped into a tense environment when I signed on for this job.

I flinched, hearing a deep voice behind me. "Don't worry about Steph, she can be pretty intense sometimes."

I turned around seeing a man with short dark curly hair smiling down at me. He had a lopsided smile with a sprinkling of freckles across a slightly crooked nose. He extended a hand out toward me. "Hey, I'm Jason! And you're Allison right?"

We shook and I smiled at him. "Yeah, I saw you the other day when Jemma gave me a tour!" I looked at his sweater vest, dress pants, and oxfords. "Do you work here?"

Jason chuckled. "Not really. I'm an intern just trying to get a job at Stark Industries!" he shrugged with a smile.

"But for now, I'm basically an errand boy." He pushed his glasses up his nose than stuffed his hands in his pockets as he leaned back.

"Excuse me, Allison? Mr. Stark's breakfast order is ready." I turned my head to the fiery red head behind me and smiled. "Okay Sarah. Go ahead and bring it to him." I started turning my head back to Jason when she spoke again, bringing my attention back to her.

"Uh, actually... he asked for you to deliver it personally." She looked at me expectantly.

"Oh. Alright then..." I took the tray from her and started for the service elevator.

"Where are you going?" she called from behind me. I spun to face her with a shrug. "To Tony's apartment."

The way she looked at me made me feel incredibly stupid. "He's in his lab!" She spoke as if it should have been obvious.

I nodded and continued to the elevator.

"You can't access it through there!" I spun back around. Why couldn't she just be straightforward!

Jason snickered, making me feel even more incompetent. "Come on, I'll take you." He offered. I gladly took him up on it since I had already forgotten where the labs were anyway. But he didn't need to know that.

Sarah leaned close as I passed by. With a glint in her eye, she whispered "Good Luck!"