When Scott Met Annie

Chapter 6: Honestly, Mr. Summers

Scott must have drifted off again at some point, because it wasn't until Annie had returned from her errands that he woke up to the smell of something in the oven.

He glanced around the living room and was downright surprised to see that Anton wasn't there. If it had been him, picking up a strange, borderline criminal type, he wouldn't have just... left. And he especially wouldn't have left his sister-in-law alone with the guy. What kind of crazy, weirdly trusting...?

But there Scott was, the only one in the little townhome with a brown-haired woman busily cooking away. He picked himself up a little higher so he could try to see over the counter, but his chest pulled with the motion, and he lay back down, still too tired to do much of anything. He wasn't sure if that was his injuries or whatever Hank had given him for them, though.

This Annie woman was busily humming as she worked, and by the time she pulled the cornbread out, she had clearly noticed that he was awake — and it didn't seem to stop her humming in the least as she flitted around the place, a flour-covered and well-used apron tied around her waist.

"Phoebe said you shouldn't have any problems eating, but just in case, I made stew," she reported to him at last when apparently she had finished with whatever she was working on. "You can have just the broth if it's an issue."

"It smells amazing," he said honestly.

"My mom's recipe," Annie told him, smiling broadly as she ladled out their portions. "My daddy always liked to put the cornbread in the stew. You want me to do that for you, or do you want it separate?"

"I really don't have a preference."

She raised her eyebrows at him for a moment before she shook her head and put the cornbread piece on top of the potatoes floating at the top of the stew, doing the same for herself before she brought both bowls over and sat down on the loveseat across from him once she was sure he had a good grip on the bowl — which was ridiculous. He wasn't invalid.

"So," she said, totally businesslike as she broke her cornbread into pieces into the stew, "is there somethin' I should know about? Some kinda X-Men business way up here nobody's heard about? That why you're up here?"

"No," he said, almost smirking. "No, I'm not with the X-Men anymore."

"So you came all the way up here to see the sights?"

"Not exactly," Scott said.

But when Scott didn't give her any more specifics, Annie made a 'go on' motion. "I'm not gonna play 20 questions guessin' why you came up here."

He couldn't help but smirk at the response. "It wasn't exactly my idea."

"So you're not a fan of Alaska?" she asked with almost a teasing smile.

"Ah, no — I'm actually from here."

"Shame," she said, definitely smiling now. "And I was prepared to like you."

He stared at her for a moment. "What... what are you doing in Anchorage, then?"

"That's where I got my first teaching job," she explained. "And I haven't been able to leave... those kids are just so darling I hate to even think of leaving 'em."

"What do you teach?" Scott asked, genuinely interested as he absently copied her movements, crushing the cornbread into the stew before he had any of it. He paused. "This is good."

"Of course it is — Mom's recipe, I already told you," Annie said, waving off the compliment easily. She took a bite of the stew before she broke into a grin. "And I teach Kindergarten."