Disoriented » Captain America

chapter thirty five

35 x only mostly dead

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[ Jo's POV ]

"Here's to Jo!" Tony declared, lifting a champagne flute into the air as he grinned over at Steve and I, "For staying true to the Princess Bride quote and being only mostly dead," he winked.

I laughed at that, a bright grin on my face as I looked up at Steve. I was relieved to find he was smiling as he lifted his glass with me when I said, "Yeah, here's to that."

There were a few more celebratory cheers then before everyone took a sip of their champagne (courtesy of Stark, of course) but I didn't down much of mine before my attention returned to Steve. He'd not taken his eyes off me for very long ever since I'd woken up, and his protectiveness was difficult to ignore. He didn't leave my side, tending toward a hand on my waist or his fingers wrapped tight around my own.

He seemed to be relaxing the past day or so, though (which was as long as it took Tony to decide a party in my honor was in order, and then to plan said party), which I did appreciate.

"Also," Sam piped in, drawing all eyes to him. He made eye contact with me for a moment before continuing, "To Jo kicking butt and totally saving the day."

"Who could forget that?" Nat chuckled, raising her glass.

We all took another sip of the champagne before Tony said, "All right, enough with the toasts -- mine was better by the way, sorry Samuel -- somebody come play me in pool!" He didn't set his glass down, just sauntered over to the pool table.

It was Rhodey who rolled his eyes and followed him first, with Pietro tagging along soon after. Apparently the speedster had picked up a liking for the game, and given the look on Tony's face when he saw Pietro coming over, the kid was probably pretty good at it. I couldn't say I was surprised.

I glanced up at Steve then, "You gonna go play a round with them?" I asked before taking another slow sip of my drink.

He shrugged one big shoulder passively, and despite the tenseness I could see in his eyes, he was exuding relaxation. Leaned against the bar, a glass in hand, he didn't look half bad this way. It was a nice reminder that I'd done pretty amazingly in the boyfriend department . . . even if said boyfriend may have been a bit off since I was basically in a coma for a month.

I didn't blame him. I did worry, though. He couldn't behave like my own personal body guard forever -- and I mean, it's not as though I can't handle myself. I hadn't brought that up yet, though; didn't really want to go there.

"So that's a no?" I asked, arching a brow and tugging enough away from him that I could turn to face him.

Steve sighed, and though I couldn't hear it, I could see it in the way his chest rose and fell. My brow furrowed of it's own accord. I couldn't help it, I was worried. He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders . . . and it wasn't a good look on him. "I'm just . . ." He trailed off, looking down at his glass absently.

I prodded his shoulder before reaching for his chin, lifting it up just enough for him to make eye contact with me. "Just what, Stevie? I'm not going to disappear."

His lips thinned out into a line. "No?" There was an undertone of doubt in his voice, and I decided right away that I didn't like it.

I teleported my glass on the nearest coffee table with a practiced thought, freeing my hands up and allowing me to cross my hands adamantly over my chest. "No, I'm not. Is that what you're worried about?"

The rest of the team had drifted away from the two of us now, giving us more than enough space for our discussion.

"It's safe to say I have a reason for that to be a concern," Steve said, his own jaw clenching in his own brand of stubbornness.

My brows popped up faster than I could think. "You think I'm just going to go disappearing after everything that happened, Cap? Really? Come on now, you know me better than that." I didn't give him a chance to answer me, though (the questions were more along the lines of rhetorical, anyway). I reached out for his hands instead, prying them off his glass and sending his glass off with mine as I wound my fingers through his, never breaking eye contact with him. "I'm not going anywhere. Do you hear me through that thick-skulled head of yours? If I was going to go somewhere, I would've when I woke up. I'm in this too far to go leaving you now, Steven Grant Rogers." I found myself stopping after I realized my voice had cracked, tears beginning to prick at my eyes.

My head dropped as I tried to stop the tears from coming, and the next thing I knew he was pulling my chin up and pressing his lips firmly to mine.

I swear to you I heard Tony shouting "Get some!" before someone elbowed him, invoking an "OW!" that was barely discernible over the rest of the cheering in the room.

When Steve and I pulled apart, I let my arms remain around his neck, his hands still firmly in place on my hips. He smiled down at me, our foreheads pressed together, and said, "I love you, Jo."

The blush that spread across my cheeks made me feel as though I was on fire (but then again, that also might've been because of how Steve was looking at me) and I couldn't help the childish grin that split across my lips. "I love you, too, Stevie."

We kissed once more before Pietro whined, "My eyes!" causing us to both laugh so hard we had to pull apart.

"See," Natasha said as we separated, my own hand catching Steve's as we turned toward the team -- our team, "that's much better. I swear, Cap, I hate a lover's quarrel. Why didn't you just tell her that when she woke up?"

"Romanoff," Steve sighed exasperatedly.

"Nah, I agree with her," Bucky grinned from beside my fellow redhead. "Should learn to move faster, Stevie," he said, winking at me.

I laughed as Steve blushed, and Tony unwisely said, "Or, you could both just get a room now--" This time I saw Rhodey jam a pool stick into his side, which was accompanied by a "Stark, I swear."

"Aw, c'mon, they know I'm joking," Tony insisted, looking to me and putting on his best puppy dog eyes. "Right cupcake?"

"I know, Stark, believe me, I know," I snickered.

"I would still advise against it," Wanda volunteered with a smirk, leaning against Vision as they watched the rest of us. "You know what happened last time you made Rogers mad, Stark."

"Steve can be mad?!" Natasha gasped. "Say it isn't so!"

Steve in that moment looked like he very much would've enjoyed telling everyone in the room off, but before he could I squeezed his hand and whispered, "Hey, guess what?"

It was enough for him to look down at me, one brow arching curiously. I grinned brightly before whispering, "I love you."

The blush on his face made every moment, every adventure, every battle, crazy mishap, and sassy remark worth it.