They moved a couple things around, but my mother made lunch work for the next day. I let the Chief know first thing when I got to the office.

"I promise I'm not trying to make these lunches out a regular thing, it's just the timing of it all," I said. The others were going to catch on very quickly that something was going on between Jack and I if I kept going out without reprimand.

Jack smiled. "Well, you're lucky you have favoritism on your side. Besides, I know you. I know this won't be a regular thing." Then, he got more serious. "Are you ready for this lunch?"

I sighed and shook my head. "But, like Peggy said, it's gotta happen sooner rather than later. Plus, now that they've met the man in my life, they'll want to really sit and meet you, so I should go in first and make sure we're good before you get thrown in."

"Well, doll, I appreciate it," Jack said, pulling me in for a quick kiss. "Now, go get working. And hopefully that file of yours comes in soon."

I nodded on my way out. "Let's hope."

At my desk, I wasted away the time doing all these little things. I reorganized some neglected drawers, closed files, filed away files, and did whatever else I could think of. When it was time for me to go, my hands were shaking. So many things could go wrong, and I was trying to take myself through everything I could say for each thing.

I called a cab and gave him the name of the restaurant my mother told me they'd take me to. At first, she wanted to send a car, but I steadfastly refused and said I'd get my own transport.

When I got to the restaurant and gave the host my name, he brought me back to a special wing where my parents were already seated.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long," I said as the host and I approached.

My mother and father both stood, my mother coming over to give me a hug. "Oh don't worry, dear, we only got here a moment ago as well," she said. When she let go of me, I looked at my father, who had his right hand outstretched. I gave it a small shake then moved to sit.

The host had already dragged my chair out, so I let him help me get seated. However, when he tried to put the napkin on my lap, I stopped him and did it myself.

"So, I appreciate you guys adjusting your schedule for me," I started, wanting to go with a positive note.

My father didn't say anything, which was how I remembered him, and my mother smiled brightly. "Oh, no worries at all. They weren't important things anyway."

We sat in awkward silence for a minute as we looked over the menus to figure out our meal. I worried at the fact that this was a five course meal, but knew I wouldn't make things better if I requested we not do all five. The Chief would just have to suck it up.

At one point, I glanced up to see what my parents were doing. They both had been here much more recently than I had, so they knew what they wanted much quicker. It took me a while longer to figure out what some of the items even were (it had been that long).

The waiter came back around and collected our orders. I luckily had a good enough idea to be ready when he asked for mine. Then, we were left with each other in our silence.

"So... what have you been doing? How's work?" Mother finally asked, breaking the horrible silence.

I took a sip of my water and nodded. "Oh, um, good. Work has been good, just busy. There's always something to do, even if it's not catching the bad guys and whatnot," I attempted to joke.

As expected, my mother politely laughed and my father didn't make any noise, just looked.

"What do you do at your job?" Mother then asked.

Inside, I hated the answer I had to give. She was throwing me a bone, trying to get some decent conversation started, but I couldn't say much of anything.

"Well, I'm afraid there's only so much I can say, and it's not a lot... "

My mother hummed and nodded, understanding. "I imagined you couldn't say much, but thought it was worth trying... um, how about, uh, how long have you been back? In New York?"

"Well, I was sent up here about four, maybe five months ago. My boss down in Miami said the boss up here needed some more help for this very high profile case and I was the first choice. There were a, uh, a couple hiccups, but I made it up here and jumped in pretty quickly.

"You might remember, but it was when Howard Stark was considered a fugitive and possible traitor?" I said. Almost immediately I regretted saying Howard's name, but it was too late.

My mother's eyes lit up and my father even looked slightly intrigued. "Oh, you got to see Mr. Stark again? How was that?"

I gave a tight smile. "It was good. Howard and I are good friends now. In fact, I had lunch with him yesterday to catch up."

She wanted to ask more about him, I knew it, but she held back. It was good timing, too, as our first course came out for us. We all enjoyed the soups in silence for a bit, but then my mother had more questions.

"What was working that like?" she asked.

I swallowed my bite and smiled. "It was nice, actually. One of my coworkers- the only other woman in our department, Peggy and I became very good friends. She even got the Chief to bring me in on the Russia trip, which was very nice since the last time I went was during the war."

"You went to Russia during the war? What was it like?" Mother then asked. I could tell by the look on her face that she really cared, but was also sad that she didn't know these things.

So, I told her about it. I told her about Russia the first time, back during the war, and how scary and stressful it had been then.

Then I got into some general details about the Russia mission when I was with Peggy and Jack. "We met up with the Howling Commandos- Captain America's crew- while we were there since Peggy knew them as well from the war. It's also where I actually got to know Jack a bit better."

I could feel my mouth turning up some when thinking about right after the mission, when I was bandaging myself back up. They didn't need to know anything about that.

"Oh, how sweet-"

"When do you plan on getting married to this man?"

My father's sudden question came from nowhere, but not really, because I know my parents. Specifically him.

I cleared my throat and leaned back as the waiters came to remove our dirty plates to make room for the next course.

"Well, we actually haven't talked much about that considering we only started seeing each other in the last few months. It's a bit frowned upon for c-coworkers to date," I explained. I nearly slipped up and mentioned he was the new chief, but that would be outrageous to them that I was dating my boss.

My father made a 'hmph' noise and took a drink of his cocktail. "You should. The sooner you get married, the sooner you can stop working this ridiculous job that's clearly not fit for a woman."

In my lap, my fist clenched and I started pulling at the napkin in my lap to get my anger out. "Well, I don't see how those two events correlate," I simply said, letting some anger out as I did.

My father slammed his fist down on the table and gave me a hard look. "The war is over. Women are no longer needed to work. The men are back for the jobs, so let some other man, some veteran who actually served for our country, take your place so you can become a good wife."

I knew this was a possible avenue my father would take. I knew it could happen. And yet, I didn't prepare myself well enough to not get pissed at it. My arm was nearly shaking with how much I was squeezing the napkin.

"Frederick, dear, let's not ruin our nice lunch-"

"Oh no, she clearly needs the reminder. Those years in that wretched Miami ruined your state of mind, and working with all these men has made you think you are one clearly!" Father nearly yelled.

My mother hushed him. "Let's not get the whole restaurant involved in our business."

Our next course was set down in front of us. "I understand that's what you believe, but it's not what I believe. And, lucky for me, Jack believes what I do, too. He's been more supportive of me than either of you have ever been."

"Oh, so then we just made your life truly terrible, what with all the luxury and lavishness we gave you? Is that it?" Father asked, his voice not getting any quieter despite my mother's request.

"Yes, actually, it was. Because a kid wants their parents to actually be around and pay attention to them, not just throw distractions in their face and hope they forget. The only reason I survived as long as I did is because of Will!"

The silenced my parents completely. Sadness overtook my mother, and I nearly felt bad. My fatter just looked mad.

I took a shaky deep breath and went on. "But he's gone, so there's nothing tying me to you or your stupid ideals."

No one spoke. Even the waitstaff was keeping their distance, our nearly empty water glasses not being worth getting caught in the crossfire.

I couldn't stay any longer. I thought I would suffocate. As I gathered my things, I said, "I wish I could say this lunch was lovely, but I shouldn't lie. I have to be leaving now because I have to get back to the office, because it's my job. Even if I were to get married to Jack, I would still do my job because not only do I love what I do, but what I do is good. Excuse me."

I got up from the chair, letting it scrape back loudly, and left the restaurant quickly. On the way, I caught a glimpse of someone familiar, but was too angry to pay attention or care.

That went worse than anticipated.

A/n: I just love writing characters with bad parental relationships, which is funny, because my parents and I have a great one lol