Ruthless and Mockingbird

Pepper Potts sat in the dining room with a plate of grilled chicken and salad on the table and her eyes focused on several documents. Work was all it felt like she did nowadays, but what else could you do when you had an entire company to watch out for, and a billionaire to keep on track.

With her minds focus, she barely gave a thought to the two new female voices that had joined her at the table until Ruth pulled a document from her hands.

"Honestly, Pepper, all you ever do is work," she said, giving the document a scrutinizing look. Ruth threw the paper down upon the rest and sat herself in front of her own food and drink.

"Why not sit and talk with us for a bit," she said, indicating to Bobbi, who smiled at the strawberry-blonde.

Pepper sighed, "I won't get any work done with you around, will I?"

"None at all," said Bobbi. "Ruth seems to like attention. I nearly had to tape her mouth shut when I was testing her hearing. Why aren't you at your office?"

"I had people calling me every five minutes needing my help when they should know how to do their job without me," said Pepper. "Plus I need Tony to sign some things. But it looks like choosing the dining room wasn't the best place to wait for him."

"Well, you should take this time to relax," reasoned Ruth. "Working too much can kill you, and I don't want to deal with a depressed Tony Stark."

"Where is Tony, anyways? He wasn't in his apartment."

"I think he went in the sauna with the other guys," said Ruth.

"Yeah, Clint discovered it about an hour ago. A small wonder we haven't seen them yet," said Bobbi.

Ruth decided to change the subject, "Has anyone seen the Black Widow?"

"She's gone," said Bobbi. "I passed her room on my way to the training room upstairs and there was a note stuck to her door. She's on assignment somewhere. Didn't say when she'd be back."

"I'm honestly surprised that she hasn't taken an assignment sooner," said Pepper. "She never really cared for it here."

"I think I might've had something to do with her leaving," said Bobbi. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved in a way, but I never meant to force her out."

Pepper gave Bobbi a kind smile, "Don't blame yourself. She told me a while ago she was ready for another assignment."

"Lucky," Ruth muttered. She was still feeling a bit bitter that she was stuck in a house rather than out in the field. "At least she got to fight in the attack on Manhattan."

"Why didn't you?" asked Bobbi. She thought that someone with Ruth strengths would've been very useful.

Ruth sifted uncomfortably in her seat. She glanced at her phone to get away from the questioning eyes before jumping up and saying, "It's already one o'clock! I need to find Cap and get going!" Before either woman could question her, she was running out of the room, almost knocking over Tony who was on his way in.

"Whoa!" he said, whipping his head around to watch her swift exit. "What's got into her?"

**

A few minutes later, Ruth found herself in front of Steve's bedroom door. She knocked a few times in quick succession and waited for his answer. The door opened to reveal Steve, freshly showered after his time in the sauna.

"Oh!" Steve blushed at the young woman in front of him. After his conversation with Clint and Tony, he was unsure of what to say or do around Ruth. In the end, he decided to stay professional. "How did your test go?"

"It went well. Bobbi says that with my readings she might be able to make something for me so I won't need to use earplugs all the time," she said. "But that's not why I came to see you."

"It's not?" the Captain began to get a little worried. What did she need him for?

"I found someone that I think you'll want to see," she said.

"Are you going to introduce me to some of your wizard friends?" Steve smirked.

"No," she said. "I found Peggy."

Steve was speechless for a moment. "Where?"

"Right here, in New York City. She's in an assisted living facility."

Steve breathed a quick intake before asking, "Do you know where it is?" Ruth nodded. "Alright, lets go."

**

Mockingbird was stretched out on her bed with a book in her lap when a knock sounded on her door. Looking up, she bookmarked her page and set it on the duvet.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's Hawk," Clint's voice drifted from the door.

"It's unlocked," said Bobbi, loud enough so he'd hear her. The door opened and Clint walked through the threshold. Her eyes widened as she saw how he was dressed - or maybe undressed was the better word.

He must've just left the sauna because he was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped low on his hips and she noticed a thin sheen of sweat covering his chest, making his sculpted abs glisten in the room's lighting. His blonde hair was damp and as he stepped closer, she saw a bead of moisture fall from behind his ear and roll slowly down his neck. To top it all off, he was giving her that smile of his.

Looking at him like that almost made Bobbi groan. She couldn't stop herself from gaping at the perfection of his body. Her eyes dropped to below the edge of the towel and her pulse quickened. She realized that she hadn't spoken in the whole half a minute he'd been in her room, so she thought of something to say.

"What," her voice came out strange so she paused to clear her throat, "What did you want?"

"I can't come and use a friend's working shower? The temperature control on the one in my room is broken. So are you just gonna leave me hot and sweaty, or do you mind?" Clint glanced at the book left abandoned on the bed. "Cochlear Implants? Do you ever stop working?"

The thought of Clint naked in her shower was enough to threaten her self control and quite a few images of the two of them getting up to very naughty things flashed in her head. She knew she shouldn't allow it, but couldn't think of an excuse to deny him. It almost seemed cruel to her now, this friend position he placed them in. Bobbi regretted teasing him now, but at the time she wasn't thinking of the potential consequences of her actions. And lord, was she paying for it now.

With a deep and slightly shaky intake of air, she said, "Sure, go ahead," she gesticulated toward the bathroom door. But Bobbi Morse wasn't going to let Clint get off that easy. She got off the bed and stepped as close to him as possible, only allowing just a few centimeters of space and air between them. Running her index finger slowly and sensually down Clint's chest, Bobbi leaned in and whispered in his ear, "And as far as my working habits are concerned, you know I always make time to play." She then firmly planted her hands on his chest and pushed him toward the bathroom, going back to her bed to resume her research.

Clint muttered, "Can't ever seem to win..." before finding his way to his wife's bathroom, alone.

**

Ruth used to not mind nursing homes so much when her grandmother was in one, in fact she quite liked talking to the elserly. But now Ruth had heightened senses and the smell of the home was almost over powering, and the man beside her still made no motion of entering the room number 234.

Finally, Ruth had enough and turned to the Captain, "You, ah, going in?" Steve nodded. Ruth sighed a placed her hand on his shoulder, "Look, Cap, I've talked to her already. She is in there waiting for you. It'll be okay. I'll be right down the hall if you need me."

Steve turned to her. Ruth's usual playful features were softened; mischievous eyes seemed wise and mature. The care and understanding radiating off Ruth gave him the strength he needed to finally open the door to the woman he had left so long ago. As he stepped through the door, Steve turned to Ruth one more time, feeling reassured as his eyes fell on her smile on last time before she turned and walked away.

Steve closed the door gently and turned to see an aged woman sitting in a recliner by the window. Her brown eyes shined with happiness and recognition, and although her hair had thinned and whitened and her skin had lost most of it's elasticity, Peggy still look lovely.

"Seventy years and you haven't aged a day in your life, Rogers," said Peggy, smiling at her joke.
Steve took a few steps closer until he was standing only a yard away from her. She gestured to the chair against the wall behind him and he pulled it out for himself. "I'm sorry for missing our date," he said, and then wished he hadn't.

Peggy just chuckled, "If that's all you're worried about, then you should know I have forgiven you already for that. How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess," he said. "It's nice here, but... it's not really home anymore. This isn't the New York City I remember. I miss the good old days. Times were simpler then."

"It seems that way," Peggy said. "But I wouldn't choose to go back given the chance," she gestured to all the pictures along her windowsill. "I couldn't imagine life without my family."
Steve took a closer look at the pictures and saw the happy, smiling faces of children who resembled Peggy. In a few of them, Peggy herself was featured and he saw the evolution of how she aged from the time he'd been frozen and now. A man was with her in some, his arms around her in a comfortable embrace.

"Cute kids. Are they yours?" he asked, pointing to the photographs of the children.

"In one way or another," she said, smiling. "Those three are mine," she pointed to a picture of two middle aged women and a man laughing. "These all are their children, and these are their children's children," Peggy pick up a picture of what looked like her entire family. "This was taken right before Paul died."

"Was Paul your husband?"

Peggy's eyes seem to brightened and saddened at the same time. "He was. I miss him dearly."

"I'm sorry," said Steve, and he truly meant it.

"Something is on your mind," she said, seemingly ignoring the apology. "Like I always tell my children, 'Just say what's on your mind, or live with never knowing what the answer will be'."

"It's just.. it should've been me in those pictures with you. If I hadn't.." Steve trailed off, dropping his head to look at the linoleum.

Peggy chuckled lightly, "No, Steve. It would've still been Paul," the Captain turned his eyes to her. "He was my one true love. I missed you, yes, but as a friend misses another friend. There was a time were I would have gladly married you, but I know now that would have never worked out. When that young lady called me today, I almost told her no. All I was ever to be to you was a memory. Nothing more." Her voice wasn't harsh, but one look at Steve's face told Peggy she need to explain a little more.

"All I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't dwell on what could've happened. We weren't meant to be, but that doesn't mean there isn't someone out there for you. You talk about this time, this New York not being home, but there is a reason you didn't die when you crashed. There is a reason you're sitting before me, still in your 20's, while I sit here with aches and pains. I've lived and loved, and never once regretted a day of it. It's time you do the same."

Steve was silent for a moment, trying to take in what she'd said. In the end, he decided that Peggy was right. She'd lived a wonderful life in spite of his absence, and if they'd truly been meant to be than that wouldn't've happened. There must be someone else out there for him, somewhere, and he was determined to find her one day. Though, as he looked toward the door and through the glass window where he knew Ruth was waiting for him, he thought he might've already found her.

Steve struggled to find the right words to say, but only one thing came to mind.

"Thank you," he said simply and stood up. Even though it was two simple words, Peggy understood fully what Steve was trying to say. She gave him a smile and a nod before turning to the window, waving when her eyes caught a hold of a woman in her late twenties walking away from a car, carrying one of Peggy's great-granddaughters on her hip.

Steve smiled at the love in Peggy's eyes and silently took his leave from her room. As he made his way into the lobby, he couldn't help but smile. Talking to Peggy lifted a weight from his shoulders that he didn't know he had.

Finally, Ruth came into view sitting uncomfortably on the couch with a sleeping old man next to her. Noticing him, Ruth smiled in relief and jumped off her seat to meet him.

"How did it go?" she asked.

Steve took a deep breath, and said, "It couldn't have gone any better." And with that, the pair took their leave.