Into the Unknown || A Captain America Love Story

33

Steve

     Tori and I step out of the elevator and into the Avengers Tower. The place is booming. People are everywhere as we wind our way through the groups. Music blares from scattered speakers. We begin to climb a short flight of stairs to the bar. I spot the Avengers and we rush to them.
     "Hey, lovebirds!" Natasha calls from behind the bar.
     Tori and I blush and return a greeting. Bruce and Clint sit on barstools, waving to us. I hear Tony's voice call for his sister. She glances at me and releases my hand to hug her brother. I laugh and return my attention to the others.
     "Hey, Cap!" the familiar voice calls.
     I whip my head around, eyeing the man sprinting towards me.
     "Sam?" I ask.
     "Yeah, man!" my friend announces. "It's been a little while."
     "Two weeks, Sam."
     "Whatever, it felt like a while," he says. "Anyway, good to see ya here."
     "You too,"
     Sam Wilson glances behind himself, in the direction of the Starks. He scans Tony and then Tori.
     "Hey, that's your girl?" he asks me, not shifting his eyes from her.
     I watch Tori as she laughs and smiles. Her brown eyes glint in the darkness. Her hair is curled and flowing down her shoulders. She smooths out her blue dress and looks up at Tony.
     "Yeah," I sigh, a grin creeping across my lips.
     "Man, she looks good."
     "Hey, she's mine."
     "Oh, someone getting a bit overprotective?" Sam giggles.
     I smack Sam's shoulder and glance back at Tori, who is now walking back to me. She strides to me, raising an eyebrow at Sam.
     "You must be Mister Wilson," Victoria chimes. "Steve has talked about you."
     "And you must be Victoria Stark," Sam replies, smiling at her last comment. "It's a pleasure."
     The two shake hands and gaze back at me.
     "Hey, you two introduced yourselves, I didn't need to help." I grin, holding my hands in front of myself protectively.
     Tori smirks at me while Sam is still staring at her. I glare at him, causing him to giggle even more. Tori crosses her arms and glances at him, clearly knowing what he was doing.
"Someone getting a bit jealous?" she sneers, looking into my eyes playfully.
"N-No, I'm not." I state.
"Steve, I know you better than I know myself. I know how you act."
"Okay, fine."
Sam bursts into laughter. "Why didn't you tell me more about her, Cap? You two are hilarious!"
"Haha, you too, Sam." I fake a laugh. "Why don't you go over to Nat and mess with her."
"Normally, I would say no," Sam says. "But given the occasion, I will."
Sam marches to the bar and takes a seat on a barstool. Tori laughs as I drag her away from the two, just waiting for Sam to have a bloody nose.
"Hey, you two," Tony shouts, jumping from behind us.
I have a mini heart attack and Tori just rolls her eyes at her brother.
"Please, Tony, don't make Steve have a heart attack." Tori states.
"He's an old man," Tony retorts. "He's bound to have a couple."
"Anyway," Tori huffs, changing the subject. "I haven't seen Pepper in a while. I kinda assumed she would come."
"Well, she has a company to run," Tony smiles sadly. "Miss Potts is doing quite well and I don't want to ruin that streak. Plus, she's way too busy anyway."
Tori smiles, knowing that her brother is depressed. She sets a hand on his shoulder and nods.
"It'll be okay," she reassures him.
"W-Why don't you two get a drink?" Tony stutters.
"Oh, yeah, sure."
Before Tori can drag me away, Tony whispers to me:
"Now I know how you feel."
I know exactly what he's talking about. Everyone is aware of what happened to me while Tori was gone. Just her disappearance made me feel dead inside. Then, I was declared a fugitive. That made me really have no chance to search for her — no chance to search for my soul. Tony doesn't have Pepper with him, so he can relate.
Tori takes me to the bar and slips the stem of a champagne glass between my fingers.
"While you were in la-la land," Tony says. "She got drinks."
"O-Oh, thank you, honey." I thank Tori.
"You're welcome, Steve." Tori replies.
     "Come here," Tony says, gesturing us to follow him.
     Tori and I follow him down the flight of stairs and step onto the floor. The partygoers are scattered along the floor, but are all within view. Tony takes a few steps up the stairs and silences the crowd.
     "Alright everyone," he booms. "I would first of all like to thank everybody for coming. Secondly, I want to say truly why we are celebrating."
     All of the murmurs soften. Tori takes a step closer to me, interwinding her hand with mine. I smile and do the same.
     "As you all know, my dear baby sister has come back," Tony continues, winking at Tori. "Crazily from Asgard. I know, you don't believe me. But I don't care. Anyway, Tori is back safe and sound and I couldn't be anymore proud to say that everyone is safe and sound, as well."
     Tony eyes me, smiling. I give him a small smile back. His eyes dart to our hands, which causes his grin to widen.
     "So, to home!" Tony shouts, raising his glass.
     "To home!" everyone repeats.
     Cheering and clinking fills the tower. I quickly clink glasses with Tori and take a sip of the champagne. Tori pecks my lips and says something into my ear:
     "Let's go somewhere quiet."