Chapter Twelve

Recovering

I wake up in the morning wedged between both men, clinging to Bucky's arm with mine and holding Steve's hand on my stomach. I breathe deeply and let go of Steve's hand, then disentangle myself from Bucky's arm. Carefully, I slither out of bed and turn around to find a small apparatus with five outfits hanging on it. I move to the front and find a sticky note attached to the front of it. 

'Couldn't sleep. Made you some things. More sticky notes to explain. -The Fav Dad.' I roll my eyes, but set the note aside to keep. The first suit is a dark red at the top, then slowly fades to black at the bottom. It's a catsuit, like Natasha's, but without any tools. The sleeves also don't end, instead they turn into gloves. The same goes for the feet, but the soles have a thick padding to protect the soles. The neckline goes up to my neck and shoots up an inch in a small collar that peels away from my neck. From my chest to my hips is a strong, layered armor that reminds me of an insect's exoskeleton. The same armor goes down my shoulders and back. A little sticky note on the collar reads, 'Defense.' Grinning, I move to the next suit.

The next is silver with black stripes down the sides. It has gloves and weird not-shoes like the other, but this one has a belt and a goggle/mask. The next is navy with thin red stripes, gloves, slippers, a belt, and multiple holsters for knives and guns. This suit also has a mask that just goes over my eyes. This sticky note says, 'Combat.' Excitedly, I move to the next. 

This suit is colored with dark green, brown, and gold. My fingers are free this time, the gloves ending with a sling around my thumb. Sharp metal stubs perch over my knuckles to make built-in brass knuckles. The elbows, knees, palms, and feet are heavily padded. This suit also has a mask, but this one covers most of my face like a butterfly's wings. The nearly falling off sticky note states, 'Stealth.' 

The last suit is almost exactly like Natasha's. All black with electric blue current running through it. Batons are hooked to the belt as well as little darts attached to the wrists. I laugh as quietly as possible at this note, 'Nat's mini-me suit.' Quietly, I roll the suits into the huge closet so Steve and Bucky don't freak out when they see them, but I take the stealth suit into the bathroom and slip it on. It slides on my body like I'm coated in butter. Flexing my fists, I feel the padding in the knuckles to keep the metal from screwing up my knuckles. It feels good. 

It moves with my body and feels like a second skin without smothering me. Before the boys wake up, I slip on Bucky's sweatshirt and my baggy sweatpants. I glance in the mirror and pause, staring at my reflection. I'm smiling, I'm clean, and I've started gaining back some weight. I haven't seen myself this happy since...my parents. Blinking, I head back out to my bedroom.

I put a hand on my hip and ponder on waking the boys or leaving them to sleep. My choice is made for me when a redhead appears at my door. She beckons me with a hooked finger and I immediately follow. She takes me to the gym which is set up differently than usual. First of all, there are dummies scattered around the room in seemingly no pattern. Second, there's a table completely covered with basically every knife imaginable. Third, Natasha is smiling.

"Today, I'm your teacher and, since I like you, I'm going to teach you the secret of being a boss ass bitch." As soon as the words slip out of her mouth music fills the room playing the song. I can't help but grin and laugh harder than I have in a long time. Nat grins at me and mouths words to me. 

"Copy me." She moves to the part of the floor unimpeded by manakins and does a simple backflip. When she moves aside I toss my sweatshirt and pants aside, then copy her perfectly. I meet her eyes and she nods, then points to my outfit and makes a thumbs up. I smile at the compliment. She turns and says something, causing the music to quiet. "Nice suit, Jo."

"Thanks." I shrug, ready for more action.

"Alright, so show me how far you can flip without stopping." She requests. Nodding, I move to the far side of the room and begin. It's harder than usual because of the damn manakins in my way, but I manage to make it from one side of the room to the other without touching anything else. Natasha applauds softly and nods as I return to her. "Good. Now, a true assassin uses everything at her disposal. That includes the people." She states before stepping forward. Her every moment is smooth and looks effortless as she flips, using her hands as a spring to lift her up and onto the shoulders of the nearest manakin. She twists its head in what would certainly be a fatal move before moving on to the next. 

One by one, she beheads or breaks the neck of each dummy. Music plays softly in the background and acts as her theme song. She finishes and rolls on the ground before popping up. I applaud her and get a smirk in return. As she walks back over to me, she fixes all the heads of the manakins. "Your turn." She tells me when she's once again beside me.

"Okay." I accept her challenge and get ready. Taking a deep breath, I run and flip, then jump as Natasha did. I straddle the first manakin's shoulders, but then fall backward onto my back with a loud oof. Natasha laughs lightly and helps me up after my breath returns to me.

"A good first go, but your problem is that you stopped. You have to be constantly moving. Using your momentum to strike hard and fast. Try again." She encourages. We do this for what feels like hours, but I love every minute of it. Natasha plays to my strengths instead of teaching me things that my body isn't used to, like Steve's strength training. Finally, I manage to get it right. Just in time too, I'm pretty sure one more time and my body would dissolve into jelly. "Good job, Jo. How about we grab some food? I'm sure you're starving." She suggests and gets a hearty nod from me as I slip my sweatshirt and pants back on.

"What time is it anyway? How'd you even know I was awake?" I ask as we slowly walk out and to the gathering room.

"Now? It's almost five. You almost always wake up around three." I glance at her when she doesn't continue, but decide I'd rather not know how she knows. We enter the gathering room and I instantly go to work, grabbing some bread, butter, cheese, and a couple of cans of soup. I dump the chicken noodle soup into a pot and turn the stove on, then prepare my bread for grilled cheese. I make three for me and three for Natasha. 

By the time I'm done, so is the soup. I serve Natasha and I, but she moves us both to the couch with tv trays as Martha Stewart rolls out some dough thing. "Talk to me a little, Jo." Nat encourages lightly. I look at her curiously, not knowing what she means. "Your likes, dislikes, where you've always wanted to go..." She trails off, leaving the rest for me to fill in. I hum a moment in thought.

"I like and dislike a lot of things, but traveling is something I've thought about before. My parents traveled a lot. I used to like the thought of it, but now..." I pause a moment and shrug. "going somewhere a lot of people are doesn't appeal to me anymore. Neither does flying." I explain, tearing apart my grilled cheese into little pieces before eating them.

"Tony could fly you in a private jet," Nat suggests before softly placing her spoon in her empty bowl. I shrug.

"Maybe. No promises." I say with a small smile. "I'd like to hike up one mountain though. Slowly, no competition, a small group, if any, with me. Then just take in the views." I daydream a little, liking the idea of feeling like the only person in the world. The corner of Nat's mouth turns up and I know she agrees.

"We'll go one day," Nat assures me and I glance over at her with a happy smile.

"Deal." I accept and we both turn towards the door when we hear a commotion. Bucky and Steve stumble into the room, both have on workout clothes and rosy cheeks.

"Have a good run, fellas?" Nat asks and scoops up our plates and bowls in one smooth movement, maneuvering around and putting them in the dishwasher without dropping a thing. The men both grin and nod.

"Steve cheated, asshole." Bucky slaps Steve's shoulder and walks over to me, ruffling my hair before going to the fridge for water. Steve laughs despite himself.

"Like you were any better." He shoots back, winking at me as he walks over to sit beside me. "How about we swim today, Jo? There's an Olympic sized pool a couple of floors down and you've been doing great with your training lately." He compliments and suggests. I glance at Natasha and she imperceptibly shakes her head, telling me they don't know about the training session we had this morning. I decide to keep it to myself.

"Sounds good to me. I don't have a bathing suit, though." I remind him, moving closer to his warmth and comforting smell without thinking about it. His arm casually sits on the back of the couch, brushing my thin shoulders every once and a while.

"We have extras in a closet. I'm sure we can find one that fits you." He assures me with careful eyes. I nod slowly.

"Let's go, then." I encourage and jump slightly when I'm scooped up. I look up with hooded eyes and shake my head at Bucky, who then grins at me.

"And you're coming, obviously," I state sarcastically and Bucky chuckles dryly at me.

"Course, I'm coming, kiddo. How long has it been since you've gone swimming?" He asks. I narrow my eyes at him.

"You implying that I don't know how?" I sass, watching him press his lips together to keep from smiling. "Shut up." I slap his chest and knock the laugh out of him. "I can swim fine, thank you very much," I assure him and he swings me down, letting my feet skim the floor before letting me stand on my own. Natasha instantly takes my hand and guides me over to a far closet. 

She slips inside with me and walks through the surprisingly huge space, flipping through the racks. She pauses for a moment, then offers me two suits on wooden hangars. She doesn't say anything, she just holds them out in front of her so I can see them. Both are one pieces, but the difference between them is one has sleeves and shorts like a half wet-suit. The other is a normal one-piece, thin straps on the top and a low back.

I know what she's saying. One would hide most of my bruises, the other would showcase them. Our eyes meet and I purse my lips slightly. "What do you think?" I ask, valuing her opinion. Her eyes are steady on mine when she offers the regular suit. I take it gingerly from her hands and walk behind her to change, letting her have privacy as she changes as well. I don't look in the mirror on the far side of the closet before heading out behind Natasha. 

Pausing at the edge of the pool when Steve and Bucky look at me, I feel a little shaky. Natasha lays a gentle hand on my shoulder, then leaves my side and goes to the stairs. I wait another second, scanning Steve and Bucky's faces. Steve's making his soldier face which means he's pissed, but Bucky's face is a direct contrast by being totally blank. Forcibly held that way, I suspect. He swims over and holds his arms up to me.

"You coming in or what, kiddo?" He asks, smiling softly. I arch an eyebrow as the corner of my mouth curls up. I sidestep his arms and jump in, cannonball style. Little bubbles surround me in a cocoon before I rise to the surface spitting water in Bucky's face. I laugh loudly when he splutters, surprised, and swim over to the edge where Steve is. His eyes flick to my neck before steadying on my eyes. My arm presses against his and a rush of emotion hits me like a truck. Damn, his emotions are always so strong.

"It's fine, Steve," I tell him in his head, laughing lightly when Natasha picks up a water gun and shoots Bucky in the face. Rough day for him. Steve sighs in response and shakes his head a little.

"It isn't." He states and I roll my eyes, pushing myself up and pushing him underwater.

"Be aware of your surroundings, Rogers." I tease, smiling when he comes back up and grins. He halfheartedly swipes after me, but I easily move out of his reach.

"What do you think about meeting Peter at Stark's party, Jo?" Nat asks, sitting on the steps of the pool and idly kicking in the water. I shrug, letting myself float on my back.

"Is this the supposed super guy Tony told me about?" I ask, my voice sounding deep and garbled through the water. Natasha hums the affirmative as Bucky moves beside me, picking me up and dropping me back into the water. I laugh and hit his chest, moving back towards Steve. "He'll be the first person my age I've been around for a long time," I admit, sitting on the lowermost step so my chin is touching the water.

"If he gets irritating just tell Tony, he idolizes the man," Steve suggests. I roll my eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle another teenager guys, thanks," I assure both men. Turning to Natasha I ask, "So, who is this guy?"

"He's almost eighteen, lives in Queens. Almost genius, brown hair, light brown eyes, very innocent." Natasha lists off some things, smirking at the end.

"He's a little green, but he's a nice kid," Steve adds with an amused smile on his face. Bucky floats over beside me and sits, bumping my shoulder in the process.

"I think it'll be interesting to see how you two interact. You're very different." Bucky states in a curious tone.

"I get along with all of you, don't I?" I tease, grinning when Bucky rolls his eyes and sends a little splash of water my way. Next, I duck under the water and start swimming laps back and forth lengthwise. It's soothing and the repetitive motion quiets my mind. 

Natasha stays where she is, but Steve and Bucky swim around a little, mostly on the surface of the water. When I get tired, I breathe out and let myself sink to the floor of the pool. My ears pop as I hit the bottom, then silence envelopes me. It's so damn peaceful down here in the quiet. My mind wanders a bit, thinking about the big party next week.

I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but getting the chance to be around people who don't know me is appealing. This Peter character is interesting too. It'll be nice to meet someone my age who, hopefully, isn't a douchebag. Finally, my lungs cry for air and I push myself off the bottom of the pool to get to the surface fast. I take a deep breath and head back over to the others. "I'm out guys. I need a shower." I grab my clothes and trek up to my room, making sure to keep my suit hidden in my sweatshirt. 

As I told them, I jump in the shower first but make it a short one. This time I don't put on a suit and just put on normal clothes, some long sweats, and a tank. I go out on a hunt for Tony; to thank him and ask him more about Peter. Of course, I find him in his lab tinkering away at something. "Hey, fav dad." I greet him teasingly. He chuckles and straightens from his position, sending a charming smile and a wrench my way.

"Good timing, Josie. Loosen the bolts over there," he motions with his chin, "then pass me whatever falls out." He instructs. I do as he says as he continues to tinker on his side of the engine.

"Thanks for the suits, Tony. They're kickass." I thank him while he's busy. I've always been uncomfortable with thank yous.

"No problem. It's actually kind of my job." He brushes it off easily, but I see the little upward curve of his lips. "You know, I have something else for you." He says suddenly, stopping and pulling something out of his pocket just as I finish the last bolt. Multiple pieces of metal spill out and I gather them in a hand, staining it with grease just as Tony offers me a small red box. We reach out with our other hands and examine what we have.

"Really, Tony?" I ask once I've opened the box to reveal a shiny new iPhone, the newest model of course. He shrugs and continues looking through what's in his hands.

"It's a phone, kids have phones. All our contacts are in it in case of emergencies, which you seem to run into a lot." He glances at me with a smile. Sighing, I allow myself to smile a little.

"Thank you, Tony. Red and gold, very original, by the way." I comment and his smirk grows.

"I am your favorite parent." He sasses and I roll my eyes.

"You're alright, Tony," I tell him and shoot him a little side eye while turning on the iPhone.

"That hurts me, Jo. Deeply." He continues being a drama queen, but I ignore him. The phone turns on and the wallpaper, as well as the home screen, are close-ups of Tony's face. I'm less surprised than I should be. I tuck it into my pocket and think for a moment before speaking.

"So, tell me more about this Peter guy. Everyone keeps mentioning him to me, but I don't even know what his abilities are." I say, wanting to learn more about the mysterious super guy. Tony chuckles, walking around to me and leaning against the table as he talks.

"His name is Peter Parker or Spiderman. He's not big on people knowing his identity just yet, so that's a secret. As you could guess from the name, he has spider-like powers. He can climb stuff, flip, hold heavy weights, shoot weird web things. Yeah. Spider-like stuff." He pauses and a little smile inches it's way on his face. "He's smart, reckless for others, and a nerd. You'll get along great." He assures me and knuckles under my chin affectionately. We stand there quietly for a moment before he breaks the silence. "He's single too, by the way." He adds and I instantly burst out laughing, my nose scrunching up and my hand going to my stomach.

"You're...trying to set...me up?" I ask between bouts of laughter, watching Tony's surprised face with amusement. "God, you're so funny. Fuck." I breathe, still recovering. I peck his cheek and pat his shoulder before walking out and back to my room. After setting the box on my nightstand I open my phone and start scrolling through the contacts, laughing loudly at the contact names.

"Iron Dad. Captain Dad. Winter Dad. Spider Mommy." I read them aloud, shaking my head the whole time. "Oh, Tony." I sigh and hop off the bed, tucking the phone in my pocket. My drawings are scattered all over my desk; I've taken to ripping them out of my notebook when I'm done so they don't smear on the other pages. Plus, it makes me happy to see all the faces out at the same time. I continue hanging them throughout my room, including my favorite skylines and other various drawings. 

With nothing else to do, I pull out my phone and look up Peter Parker. A couple of pictures pop up of him in various academic tournaments at various ages. He's cute in an innocent, puppy sort of way. Next, I look up Spiderman, watching various videos on YouTube. He's impressive, although I've never been the biggest fan of spiders. Smiling, I walk to my bed and set it on the nightstand, changing into shorts and a tank top to sleep in. I crawl into bed and shut my eyes, waiting for sleep and my two body pillows to arrive. I know sleep won't come without them by my side.

"Jo?" A soft whisper comes from the doorway and I hum in response. "It's just us." Steve murmurs before walking in with Bucky tailing him.

"Really? I thought you brought a circus with you." I state with a little snark, but both men chuckle in response. They're used to my mouth at this point. "Missed ya." I mumble when they're closer. They settle in next to me and cover up with their own blanket.

"Night, kiddo," Bucky tells me quietly before we all fall silent, waiting for sleep.

A/N

Uh, so who's excited for Peter?? ;)