Chapter 27: No More Apologies

            “Jade… Jade… Jade!”

            “Huh? Wh-what?” I mumble looking at Peter sitting next to me.

            “Are you okay? The file came up and it’s like you just froze.” He says placing a hand on my shoulder.

            “Um… Yeah, I-I’m fine…” Deep breathe Leiton. No passing out now. Not when there’s so much to go over. Lying isn’t gonna help… “No, that was a lie… I’m not okay.” I say shakily while taking a breath.

            “What’s wrong?” Rogers says from my other side. I look at him, then back to the HYDRA symbol and then the floor. I swallow another breath and slowly point up at the symbol.

            “Th-that’s the… That’s the symbol, th-that I saw when… when they took me. That was on every truck, every man’s uniform.” I finally spit out.

            “You were taken by HYDRA?” Rogers says. I take one last deep breath as my thoughts straighten out and will myself to speak.

            “Apparently.” I say, standing. I swipe away the symbol and see files on Johan Schmidt, Doctor Armin Zola, Rogers, Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, Doctor Abraham Erskine, and… and Colonel Chester Phillips. I tap Chester’s file. It opens and shows several images and clips of him fighting HYDRA agents and also his affiliation with them.

            “Colonel Phillips?” Rogers asks, standing up next to me.

            “He, uh, he was a friend of my dad’s.” I say swiping through the pictures. The more and more I swipe and see, the more memories of my dad and Chester flood into my mind. I can feel myself slowly breaking down. I come to a picture and notice something on Chester’s uniform. He’s wearing a lapel pin. The exact same one my dad wore and then gave to me on his first shipment out after I was born. It’s a silver compass with a small flower as the actual pin piece. When I see it, my mind goes blank, and I can feel tears prick my eyes. I clear my throat and look down so no one can see my eyes. “Uh, Jarvis, can you please pull all this up in my room.” I say as powerful as my voice allows.

            “Of course, Miss.” He replies as I begin to walk away from everyone. As I pass the elevator, I can see Peter in the reflection as he tries to come to me, but Rogers stops him and I’m slightly grateful. I need some time to go over this. I walk to my room, open the door and gingerly close it. All the HYDRA info is projecting in my room. I take a deep breath and lean against the door as I let go of a few silent tears.

I sniff back and say, “Jarvis clear Chester’s file, I’ve seen enough.” He doesn’t say anything, but he does comply. I walk straight through the hologram to my closet. I quickly change out of all the black clothing and throw on ripped, faded jeans, black high top converse, and a dark green and cream plaid flannel. I roll up my jeans slightly so they’re at my mid-calf before walking out to the bathroom. I wash my face and there’s practically another face on the white towel due to all the makeup I was wearing. I throw the towel in the hamper and brush out the curls in my hair. I take a deep breath and begin to look over all the HYDRA information SHIELD has.

After 10 minutes of mindless searching, I have Jarvis play music to help me concentrate. Not Fall Out Boy, but One Republic, Ed Sheeran. This kind of music is better; when working. I keep it down though. I don’t need them coming here and seeing me so frazzled just to ask me to turn my music down.

1 Hour Later

*Steve’s POV*

            “Well you sure as hell weren’t lying when you said Jade would get back at us.” Tony says while sitting down with his scotch glass. Peter’s been pacing the room since Leiton left. I can see he wants to go comfort her, but the look she had on her face was the same one I had when I woke up. She’s confused, upset, and just wants to know the truth and she deserves the time to do that alone. Peter doesn’t answer, he just continues to pace back and forth between the couches while we all watch him.

            “Peter,” I say standing and putting my hand on his shoulder to stop him. “She’s been through a lot, I’m sure she’s fine.”

            “But you don’t know that!” He finally releases his rage and worry.

            “Can’t we check?” Clint asks from behind us.

            “Yeah, Jarvis pull up the video from Leiton’s room.” Tony says leaning forward on his knees. The TV switches on and it’s a view of Leiton, changed, looking over the HYDRA information.

            “Look, she’s fine. She’s just trying to find answers.” I say patting his shoulder reassuringly.

            “Well that may be true at the moment, Captain, but I fear Miss Leiton has not been okay with her stay here.” Jarvis says.

            “What?” Peter asks.

            “My apologies for not notifying you earlier, but Miss Leiton had demolished her room after over hearing you in the kitchen. She then left to her apartment at 10:27 p.m. last night and returned at 11:24 p.m.” Jarvis says.

            “What, Jarvis, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Tony says standing.

“After hearing your barbaric remarks about her, I understood Miss Leiton’s reasoning’s. I’m actually quite surprised she returned with the guarantee of living with the pomposity of you people.” Tony raises his hand and prepares to retort, but he comes up dry.

“Jarvis what do you mean she demolished her room? Could you show us?” I ask. Jarvis switches from the live feed to the footage from last night. Jade slams her door and slowly begins to break things. And Jarvis was right, she completely demolished her room. We watch the video for a few minutes in silence, but when Leiton collapses on the floor like she’s a broken rag doll, Peter turns off the TV.

“Jade wouldn’t want you to see that.” He quietly says.

“That’s perfectly fine, Peter.” Bruce says. After a few more minutes of silence, I decide to address the elephant in the room.

“Okay, we all know everything Jade said was true. We have been incredibly biased towards her simply because of what she’s done as Viper when we’ve all done things against the classification of, ‘right.’ And we don’t need to put up with her. Peter has been friends with her for 3 years and I say that’s good enough evidence that Leiton’s a good person. Yes, she’s gone about things wrong, but so have we. We don’t know a damn thing about her and we never will if we keep treating like a threat. Now, we threat Jade like an ally. Like a good human being, because, and I’m sure Peter can back me up on this, she is.” I say standing in front of everyone.

No one speaks for several seconds until Thor stands. “I also believe apologies are in order.”

“Right. But not now, we give Jade her space and when she decides to come out, we’ll talk to her.” I say making sure everyone understands. They all nod in agreement, even Peter who I thought would put up more of a fight.

“Well I think I’ll go work off some steam.” Natasha says standing.

“I’ll join you.” Clint says following her. I assume they plan to go train.

“I think I shall retire to my room. Please notify me when Lady Viper has returned. I wish to apologize for my crude behavior towards her.” Thor says walking to the elevator.

“Yeah, I think I will too. That whole fiasco took a lot out of me.” Bruce says following Thor.

They leave and Tony says, “I’m going down to the shop.” While downing the rest of his drink. I sigh and turn to Peter.

“I think it’s best if you go to your room. Jarvis will tell us when Jade comes out.” I say.

“I know, but I just can’t help but think she needs someone right now.” He says meeting my eyes.

“She’s just trying to find answers. She’s been in the dark of who took her for 15 years. Now she knows HYDRA is her enemy, and she obviously feels more prepared with an enemy when she’s well educated about them. After she’s done looking over the file, I’m sure Jade will be more than happy to talk to you.” I say while ushering him to the elevator.

“Okay.” He lets in while pushing the down button. I give him a nod and walk down the hall to my room. Tony’s is at the end of the hall, mine is to his left and Jade’s is to the right. The closer I get to Jades the door I hear music but unlike the first time, it’s soft and soothing. The more I listen though, the sadder it sounds. I try to decipher the lyrics, but someone taps my shoulder.

“Don’t check on her, huh?” Peter says when I turn to him.

“Oh, no, I was just…” I try to explain but in all honesty I was considering going in to apologize and see if she needed to talk. Peter raises his eyebrows at me as I trail off.

“Right.” He says while turning the knob to Jade’s door. I follow him in and see Jade surrounded by different holograms from the HYDRA information. She actually seems to be reading my file. She turns back to see who walked in but then immediately goes back to reading.

“So this Red Skull guy went through the same procedure you did?” She asks.

I walk up to her and say, “Well, technically yes. But it didn’t go as plan and Dr. Erskine didn’t want to proceed but Schmidt insisted. That was the result.” I point at one of the pictures of Red Skull to show her what I mean.

“Sexy.” She says looking at the picture. She clicks on one of me directly after being injected with the serum. “Well thank God that didn’t happen to you. Cause that,” She gestures to the picture of me, “turning into that would just be dreadful.” She finishes pointing to Red Skull.

Peter comes up to the other side of her and asks, “Are you okay?” She teeters her head back and forth as if weighing her options mentally.

“As much as I can be for just discovering the bastards that ruined my life.” She says facing Peter. I let out a low chuckle at her answer. She really is a fighter. I tune out what she and Peter say because it’s obvious that they can talk to each other about anything and would prefer to do it alone, but I need to apologize to Jade for everything. After all if we’re going to be living across the hall from each other, we should at least get along. I walk away from the two and look at the file. It seems like Jade has been through most of it already. I also try to listen to the music she has playing rather than them. It’s actually a pleasant cello and piano rhythm compared to what I heard before.

Let’s play a game

Where all the lives we lead can change

Let’s play a game

Where nothing that we can see, the same.

We’ll find other pieces to the puzzles

Slipping out under the locks

I can show how many moves to check mate right now

We can take apart this life we’re building

And pack it up inside a box

All that really matters is we’re doing it right now

            Right now

            I listen to the song and get lost in the melodic beat as Peter and Jade continue talking.

            “Steve…”

            “YO! Earth to Ancient Flag!” I turn and look at Peter and Jade as they try to get my attention.

            “What?” I ask coming out of my daze.

            “Peter was telling us that we should get over our differences and try to get along. He thinks that all of us could actually be good friends. I said I’d be okay with that if everyone else was.” Leiton explains.

            “Oh, of course. And I’m sure everyone will be on board after this morning.” I say joining the two again.

            “I also think a good way to start that is training and calling each other by their actual names.” Peter says.

            “Oh, come one. Stark gives everyone nicknames, Sticky Fingers.” Jade says. I shrug in agreement while Peter rolls his eyes.

            “At least use their first names.” Peter tries again. I don’t know how she does it, but Leiton gives a sigh that seems sassy and sarcastic. After a few seconds of silence I decide now to be the time to apologize.

            “Jade,” I start as she turns to me. “You were right. About everything. And I’m sorry about everything I’ve ever said that has offended you. I was out of line to say those things about you and I’m sorry.” She looks me up and down, I’m sure searching for any signs of lying, but I really am regretful and guilty about all of this.

She looks me in the eyes and says, “Thank you… Steve.” I try at a smile towards her, and she, thankfully, returns it.

“Alright, what’s say we get you some food?” Peter suggests.

Jade nods in agreement and says, “Jarvis could you close all this please? I will want to pick it up later though.”

“Of course, Miss.” Jarvis says as all the projections disappear. The music stops too and that reminds me that I wanted to ask her what it was.

“What were you listening to?” I ask as Peter and Jade walk out of the room and I follow.

“Oh, sorry about that, was it too loud? It’s just that music helps me think and concentrate and-” Jade rattles, but I cut her off.

“No, no, it’s not that. I liked the song you were just listening to.” I reassure her as we all walk down the hall.

“Oh… Well that was Au Revoir by One Republic.” Jade tells me with a perfect French accent. Well with her French accent.

“I’ll have to look into them.” I say as we walk into the kitchen.

“You know there’s a lot of stuff you need to catch up on. It might help if you have some place to write it all down that you could have on you all the time. I’d say a phone, but I’m guessing you’d prefer physically writing things down.” Jade says leaning against the counter.

“That’s actually a really good idea.” I say as I lean on the counter across from her.

“Who knew I wasn’t just a pretty face?” Jade says walking to the fridge next to me and opening it I let out a small chuckle at her comment. When she straightens back up, her hands are full of different meats, cheeses and condiments. She turns and kicks the door close as she walk back to the counter.

“Where’s the bread?” Jade asks while placing everything that was in her arms on the counter.

“I would be more than happy to assist you in making a meal, Jade.” Jarvis says.

“Oh, nonsense. I’m perfectly capable of making a sandwich.” Jade says looking for the bread on top of the fridge. I smile as I watch her standing on her tip-toes to pier over the top. When she bounces back down and lets out a huff I realize I’m standing in front of the bread box.

“Whole wheat or white?” I ask turning around and getting the bread.

“Whole wheat, please.” She says. I grab the loaf, and turn and hand it to her. “Thank you, very much, Steven.” Jade says walking back to the counter. I chuckle at her use of my full name. I look over at Peter who’s sitting at the table. He’s smiling at Jade. He must be grateful for the two of us getting along. I look back to Jade as she quietly hums while making her sandwich.

“Jarvis?” I ask after Jade finishes and begins putting everything back.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Why don’t you get everyone down here?” I suggest taking the loaf of bread back from Jade.

“Of course.” Jarvis replies. Almost instantly, the elevator doors open. I see Jade open the fridge to get a drink right as Clint walks in.

“Whoa, Jarvis, buddy. I just asked for a sandwich. You are getting better and better at this.” He says sitting down at the counter. Jade turns back around and gives Clint a confused look. He sees her and immediately catches onto the situation.

“Wait, is this yours?” Clint asks pointing to the sandwich.

“Yeah, but go for it. I can make another.” Jade says walking to the counter and giving him the water bottle she had in her hand to him as well.

“No, no, it’s yours, you didn’t have dinner last night, and haven’t had anything today, you take it.” Clint says pushing the plate towards her. I join Peter at the table and… observe the two as the others begin to pool in.

“Look Bi-Clint, it’s not that big of a deal.” Jade says.

“Whoa, when did you two get on a first name bases?” Tony asks walking into the kitchen.

“Since now.” Peter says standing. “Jade has agreed to make this work as long as everyone else does too.” Peter continues, as Jade pushes the plate back towards Clint and proceeds to get all the ingredients again. “And I thought by not calling people nicknames, it would be a good start for everyone getting along.” Jade starts making herself another sandwich while Clint devours his.

He swallows and says, “Thank you Jade.” She simply smiles in return as she continues. “Oh, and I’m sorry for everything that happened. You’re actually pretty okay.” Clint adds on while sucking his fingers, trying to get every last taste of the sandwich.

“Took you long enough. Oh, and just okay?” Jade says walking back to the fridge to return everything again.

“Better than okay.” Clint corrects himself.

“Thank you.” Jade finishes when she gets back to the counter.

“Yes, Lady Viper, I am truly sorry for ever wronging you. And for injuring you in any way.” Thor says stepping up to Jade.

“Don’t worry about it Thor. See you didn’t even hurt me.” Jade says opening the collar of her shirt slightly to show that Thor grabbing her didn’t even leave a bruise. “And I’m willing to let the past stay the past if everyone else is too.” She adds on.

“Well that’s only reasonable.” Bruce says. “And I’m sorry, Jade.”

“Thank you, but I should be apologizing too. I mean I almost made you h- um… I almost made… the other guy come out. I’m sorry.” Jade says. Bruce walks up to her and offers a smile and a nod that she returns. I look and see Peter smiling as Jade apologizes to Tony and Tasha.

“No need to apologize Jade. I deserved what you said.” Tasha says holding up her hand to stop Jade from talking.

Jade gives a smile with, “Great. Plus we’re both girls so I’d say we’d be better working together.” Natasha smiles at her response and sits next to Clint.

“And sorry for causing an attack Me- Tony.” Jade says. Tony simply opens his arms. “Is he expecting me to hug him?” Jade asks turning back to Peter and me. I smirk at her as Peter simply waves his hands for Jade to continue. She rolls her eyes and turns only to bump into Tony who moved close to her. She lets out a sigh and returns the hug. “Let bye gones be bye gones?” Jade suggests.

“Sure thing, Frenchy.” Tony says as the two still hug.

“Hey if I can’t use nicknames, why can he?” Jade asks obviously becoming uncomfortable with the longevity of the hug.

“Because you’re living in my tower and well, I’m me.” Tony says. I hear an exasperated sigh from Jade.

After several seconds of Tony still not letting go, probably seeing how long it takes to aggravate her, Jade absent mindedly says, “Not that this isn’t great, but I’m beginning to choke on Iron Buns cologne.”

“Wow, and her I thought I was trying to make you uncomfortable.” Tony says pulling back.

“Oh God that was supposed to be in my head…” Jade says looking down. I chuckle at her cute, self-shaming as she tries to save herself. “Believe me it’s not that bad, just lighten it up.” Tony simply smiles and shakes his head with a chuckle.

“Will do… Jade.” He adds on Jade smiles at his acceptance.

“Great, now if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to eat.” Jade says. Peter walks up to her after she finishes and is putting her plate, along with Clint’s, in the sink.

“Now was that so bad?” He asks as she turns to face him.

“Well I didn’t puke in my mouth as much as I suspected I would, so that has to be a good sign.” Jade says with a smile. I laugh at her comment which draws her attention back to me. “Besides, Steven here put me in a good mood, so thank you.” She says placing her hand on my shoulder. I stand from my seat in front of her.

“Well I am supposed to be a gentleman, aren’t I?” I say as her hand trails down my arm and back to her side, due to me standing. For some reason I want her to move it back.

“Yeah, sorry about all that. I was just so hell-bent and I had so much rage-”

“Jade, it’s fine. We’ve already made our apologies.” I cut her off and put my own hands on her shoulders to reassure her more.

“Are you sure? Cause I really didn’t mean to bring up all that stuff about my dad and-”

“Jade, no more apologies.” I say again before she can continue. She looks up at me as I continue to hold her small frame. She moves her hands up to mine and I feel a small tingle. I look at her eyes as she thinks about what to say. They’re a deep stormy blue as opposed to when I first met Jade and they were bright, vibrant, and fierce. It still amazes me how such a small person is able to do what Jade can.

“Okay, no more apologies.” Jade finally says, making me smile.

A/N: Alrighty guys!! So everyone's made up and life at the tower is finally going to get better for Jade! Maybe... So what do you guys think of Steve's POV?! I thought about doing Peter's but I like how it turned out anyway. 

Okay, now I know you all must be wondering how exactly Jade's dad knows Steve's Colonel. Well all I'll tell you is that everything will be explained soon and that it all ties in. But, if you are a true Marvel nut (like me) than I'm sure you have an idea forming. Go ahead and comment if you have a theory. 

So the picture attached is the lapel pin that Jade sees the Colonel wearing. Again that will be explained later and it also will be a rather important part so... yeah. The video is Au Revoir by One Republic. Now remember every song has a meaning, so keep that in mind through out the story. 

Okay, so I'm going to get a little serious now. Please bare with me through this chick flick moment. The last chapter was a very important part for me because it was one of the moments that I had planned on happening from the very beginning. It was one of the chapters that keeps me writing. I want the moments I think of to happen to Jade and Peter and the Avengers and, yes, Luc. And when I recieved so many comments like "Best chapter ever!!", "I cried at that...", "I love your book, one of the best I've read.", "GO JADE. YOU ARE MY FREAKING ROLE MODEL.", or "Holy crap, that was beautiful thank you so much." I honestly get so overwhelmed. Knowing that you guys actually enjoyed one of the chapters that I've been imagining since the beginning just means so much to me, that I couldn't even attempt to begin telling you how much that really means to me. And, I won't lie, I really did get emotional when I read through the comments. YES, OKAY, THERE WERE ACTUAL TEARS, BUT PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE. I HATE CRYING. EVEN IF IT'S HAPPY TEARS. Okay I'm done. But really I love you guys and you make me increadibly happy. I really can't say much more than thank you.

Also, last update I asked you guys what you thought I looked like and my friend Lily (@4_Marvel go follow her and read her books, they're amazing and fantabulously original) kinda ruined it, but yeah, I have shoulder length blonde curly/wavy hair, blue/green eyes (depending on what I'm wearing), and although I hate admitting it, I've accepted that I am 5"3' and short (compared to literally all but 2 of my friends). I also have plenty of freckles on my face and a stupid button nose, that my friend Brooke says other girls would kill to have, and long legs that don't add up to my tiny tush plus super small hands and wrists. Hence the recent fracture, which, by the way, lead to tendonitis. So, whooooo!! (If you didn't physically feel the sarcasm there, than I really need to work on that.) 

Okay, that's enough of me and my looks which I'm sure you are exaggerating so if you ever meet me you'll be incredibly disappointed. But wAIT, THERE'S MORE. Okay, so I don't know if you guys know, but Viper has 20.7K views and 1.01K votes. LikE WHAT!!! I checked this in class and actually squealed which may or may not have caused my teacher and fellow classmates to look at me rather questionably.......... Okay so yeah, there's my embarrassing story and my super emotional (for me at least) thank you and my description and that ends this super long and boring author's note which I'm sure only 0.2% of you actually read. Okay, LOVE YOU GUYS.

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