"And you haven't seen him since this mystery mission ended?"
I shake my head, "No. I'm worried about him. This... mission is dangerous. Jack is a good agent but he's still just a guy, in a world of… more." We stop walking right in the middle of the Metropolis sidewalk.
Jane tucks a loose hair behind my ear, "Hey." I look at her, and she has this calm confidence that's just so infectious, "You said he has help? It's his mission? He's gonna be okay."
I smile back and nod, "Yeah, you're probably right... God. Caring about people is hard." We start walking again.
She giggles, "New to the concept?"
I shrug, "There were a few people, but no-one I would've risked my life for. Maybe Alex. Here, I have Phil. I have Jack." I point a thumb over my shoulder, "Hell, I even have those two bozos." I lean in and lower my voice, "And don't quote me on this, but they're not too bad." The pause stretches on just long enough to be awkward. I roll my eyes, "And I guess I have you."
She smiles, "You do."
I stop in front of an Italian/Indian fusion 'eatery'. Very characteristic of Metropolis, that.
"How about this one?"
She looks at the elaborate embossing on the door, "It might be a little expensive."
I bump her shoulder with mine, "You're gonna be rich some day. I can pay you back."
She opens the door and I walk in ahead of her, "That's what you said last time, and it still doesn't make sense."
I nod at the person up front, "Table for four." He grabs a few menus and as we're following I turn back to Jane, "And? I paid you back, didn't I?"
"If I'm the one who's going to be rich, shouldn't I be the one paying you back? And if I'm rich, why would I even want for you to pay me back anymore?"
I bump her again, "That's the idea."
SHIELD confiscated the exact bills that were in my wallet when I came through the Bifrost for study, but they compensated... most of it. I'm down about two thousand from the original twenty thousand I started with. It's a good thing life at H.O.M.E. doesn't have many expenses, because I'm not being paid much either.
Almost as soon as we all sit down Jane asks Mike and Ike, "Mike? Harold? Can you two give us a minute?"
Ike frowns and lowers his menu. Mike whacks him on the shoulder and stands, "Of course. Just call us when you're done." Ike follows his partner out, but of course complains about protocol the whole way.
I turn to Jane with an eyebrow, "Yeah?"
She's suddenly getting all awkward and shy, which tells me exactly what this is about, "So, I told you a while ago that I would be thinking about… us, and, trying to figure out if my feelings are real."
I nod, "Yeah."
"And, my father talked to me about it. And…" Damn these pauses, get it out already!
"Yeah?"
She takes a deep breath, "I don't know. But I think I want to try?"
A little hopeful tone is breaking through for both of us, "Yeah?"
She nods, "Yeah. Like, a date? I know we both have busy schedules. You have your training, so we won't be able to do anything special for a few weeks-"
I interrupt her, "What about the third? Next month? We can just take a train up to New York, do some Times Square shopping. I have enough cash to spring for Broadway tickets if you want, as long as we don't need good seats."
Her expression of shock tells me that maybe Broadway was a little heavy-handed for the first date, "Wow, that would be-... I mean-" She shakes away the sentence fragment and starts again, "That sounds perfect. Thank you."
And we're both smiling like idiots, "Is that it? You just wanted to ask me out?"
She breaks into a laugh, which I join, "Yeah, I guess it is. I don't know why I was expecting that to take longer."
I shake my head, "Maybe because it took eight months for it to happen." I touch my comms, "Yeah, Mike, you two can come back now."
They come back in, sit down, and we all order our food.
Mike keeps looking at Ike like he's going to melt into the sewers, and Ike is nervously tapping his fork against the table.
I reach over and take away the fork, "Ike? Is there something you want to say too?"
I don't think I've ever seen his eyes this wide, even in combat areas, "No, no. Nothing. Just, something happened this morning at the shooting range."
"Does this have something to do with why it's closed for renovation?"
Ike hesitates, and Mike answers for him, "Apparently one of his shots overpenetrated through the target and the wall behind it too. It hit someone in the shoulder."
My eyes go wide, "Shit."
Ike nods, "They're reinforcing the whole back wall, and decreasing the muzzle velocity on the guns allowed at the range."
Jane asks, "Is the person okay?"
Ike nods, "They're fine, so I hear. After going through the wall the bullet didn't have enough force to do permanent damage. But it could've been a lot worse."
"Ike-" Wrong name for right now, "Hey, Harold." He looks at me in disbelief at hearing his real name, maybe the first time from me, "That sucks. Are you okay?"
His absent expression returns telling me that he's definitely not, "I'm fine. If the wall was that weak, it was bound to happen eventually, right? I was using the same gun as everyone else… It was a good shot though. I beat my best distance with a bullseye."
He's torturing himself. This is bad, "Hey, your meal is on me, alright?"
He shakes his head but there's the smile I was aiming for, "That's not necessary. SHIELD pays for it either way."
I shrug, "Fine. Then we're getting an extra dessert. How does a 'Harlem's Monster Sundae' sound? Do you like pistachio?" No response. He's staring past the table. I throw his fork back into his lap, which breaks him out of it again, "I have to fatten you up somehow. You almost kept up with me on my run yesterday."
