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kippykasey · 2 years

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Walk Away - Chapter 4: They're Siblings Your Honor

Pairing: N/A

Series Summary: After living in the shadows of her older brothers Alexandra Walker decides to walk away from what everything people expect of her and chase after the dream of working at Stark Industries. She wasn’t expecting everything that would follow after being hired.

Chapter Warnings: mentions of un-a-living ones self

Word Count: 3572

Author’s Note: This chapter references characters from Grace.

Disclaimer: All gifs used were found using the tumblr gif tab. I do not own anything unless stated otherwise.

Walk Away Masterlist | Masterlist

Alexa sat there in the backseat of the chauffeured car, Tony next to her, as she processed what just happened in more depth. She turned in her seat and began to repeatedly slap the older man repeatedly in the arm. “Are. You. Stupid?!” Each word was punctuated by a slap, each stronger than the last.

It was at that moment that Tony knew he made a mistake giving his address out. Alexa began to lecture him on how stupid he was during their ride from the hospital to his home. He definitely was not expecting the southern girl to be so strong. Honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bruise left. She got out of the car not even waiting for the chauffeur to open the door as she made her way into the house. Pepper was waiting in the entry way already, her arms crossed in front of her as mad about it as Alexa. The two bickered like a married couple ending with Pepper storming upstairs to pack her bags to leave the now unsafe home. Tony made his way down to his work room. He stood there looking at the wall of suits.

"Jarvis, prepare mock 19 for flight." Tony instructs tapping on the table in front of him. "Compile all information you can on the Mandarin including a scene recreation from the explosion. While you’re at it, also tell Alexa to come down."

The golden and red mock 19 iron suit powered on, the eye slits glowing white, and stepped out of the cell it stood in. The suit opened and stood waiting while Jarvis projected the requested scene and told Alexa to meet Tony downstairs.

Alexa huffed at the request but stood from the couch she had settled into on arrival, moving down the stairs to the room. Her blue eyes were drawn right to the blue holographic scene recreation. Tony stepped into her line of sight, grabbing her shoulders and maneuvering her to turn towards the open, waiting suit. She looks over her shoulder towards him confused about what was going on.

"You said you wanted to try on the suit." The statement was simple and honest. She had mentioned a few times about how she wanted to try on the suit but it was always mainly a joke since she never thought it would actually happen. Yet here she was stepping into the suit. The metal closed around her and surprisingly the suit was able to adjust slightly to fit her shorter height. The biggest change was the white-blue holographic screen that appeared. In her peripheral vision was what looked like energy levels and various gages that she wasn’t familiar with. The main thing she could see was the viewpoint in front of her. She flexed her fingers feeling how the mechanics worked before lifting her legs and arms to test the weight.

"Jarvis, put mock 19 on autopilot and send Alexa to the Avengers Campus." Tony made the request as she was still getting the feel of the suit. The screen inside the suit cleared into nothing but a front visual. Alexa’s head turned, making the suit head turn with it as she looked at Stark with wide eyes.

"What? Tony, what are you doing? Jarvis, let me out." Alexa quickly began to panic but the suit moved and therefore she did. The window in front of her began to open to let the suit fly out. "I'm sorry Miss Walker," Jarvis apologized as the suit approached the window.

The last thing Alexa could hear before the suit took off flying was, "You'll be safer in New York, kid."

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

Alexa learned quite a few things during her three hour flight from Malibu to upstate New York. One, she does not like tight places. Two, she did not like having limited mobility. Lastly, she never wanted to wear the iron suit ever again.

“Miss Walker, we will be landing soon. It appears that the suit is not ready for a normal landing. This might be a bit rough, apologies.” Jarvis informed her as the suit began lowering towards the large gated compound.

Rough was an understatement. The thrusters just cut off at the same time Alexa was once again allowed access to move. Her stiff limbs collapsed under the weight of the suit and the sudden foot drop. The girl tried to tuck and roll but the larger suit combined with the slightly icy surface just couldn’t handle the motion and ended up just face planted on the cement landing pad. “I have alerted Ms. Potts that you have arrived safely.” Jarvis states as the girl in the suit just groaned before rolling onto her back and looking up at the sky.

“Thank you Jarvis.” She huffed.

The vision of the blue sky was blocked by a man that made Alexa’s brain go brrrr for a moment as she looked up at the charming, amused smile that belonged to her childhood crush. Steve Rogers let out a chuckle as he looked down at the iron suit. He watched the fail of a landing from inside where he was making a cup of hot cocoa to fight off the chill of the December night.

“Well I could say you have had better landings.” He joked, hiding his hands under his arms to keep them warm.

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes as she sat up. “I say that was a beautiful crash landing for a new flier, Captain.”

Steve’s blue eyes widened at the voice that came out of the suit. Clearly this wasn't the genius he thought it was. He quickly stepped back to give the person more room as the suit began to stand up. “You’re not, Stark.”

“Nope. Jarvis, can you please open the suit now and let me out of this thing before I freak out again.” Alexa wished she wasn’t about to meet Captain America face to face for the first time still looking like a mess. The suit opened and as soon as she was able to slip out the blonde rushed out even ducking around pieces that were still moving away. Her foot slid slightly but a firm hand grabbed onto the crook of her elbow to steady her.

“Thank you. Alexandra Walker but everyone usually calls me Alexa. Big fan Mr. Rogers, just maybe not as much as your ol’ comrade Amazing Grace.” She thanked him and quickly babbled on to introduce herself.

Steve was a bit taken back. Sure he had come across a few people who were fans of his but for someone to mention anyone from the commandos or even Grace was amazing. It brought a small smile to his face. “You know that wasn’t her real name right?” The blonde girl nods her head before a shiver convulsed through her body.

“Jarvis, uh, can you take the suit inside?” Alexa requests looking back at the suit that was reclosed.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Steve motioned for her to go to the building once they watched the suit walk the path towards the hanger. The two entered the silent building. The first thing that she smelt was the hot cocoa that Steve had been making. Steve walked around her to go back towards the kitchen where he pulled out another mug. “Would you like some hot cocoa, Alexa?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.” She followed him, taking a seat on a stool at the island counter. She looked around taking in the lack of holiday decorations. There was no other sign of someone else even being around. “Are you here alone?”

Steve hummed slightly looking up from what he was doing and gave a slight nod. “Uh, yeah. Clint’s at home with his family. I think Nat is off on a mission in another country and well Shield staff don’t normally visit on the weekend unless there is something going on. So what trouble did Stark get you into?”

Alexa groaned and let her head slump forward and she resisted the urge to cover it with her arms on the counter. “It didn’t start off as Stark’s doing. Simply a wrong place, wrong time type deal. I guess. I’m sure you’re aware of Mandarin by now?” She waited until she got a nod from Steve to continue speaking. “Well, Happy was a victim in the most recent bombing. Stark called out the Mandarin and gave out his home address.” Steve let out an exasperated sigh as he listened to the explanation.

A red mug filled with hot cocoa topped with mini marshmallows was pushed across the counter towards her. Steve leaned against the counter pulling the sleeves of the cream cable knit sweater up his arms slightly. “Are you staying with Stark?” Alexa lifts the mug, taking a small sip before shaking her head.

“I was staying with Happy.” Alexa knocked on the counter top, tilting her head up to look at Steve. “I’m sure you have heard about the Mandarin by now?” Steve gave her a nod as he took a sip from his own mug. “Happy was injured in his most recent attack. Then Tony, that freaking idiot of a genius, gave his address out in the press calling them out.”

Rogers shakes his head as he listens to her explanation. “So he sent you here because it’s safer.” He answered his own unasked question, which was confirmed by Alexa with a nod of her head. The super soldier let out a small sigh and looked at the young woman. “I suppose we should head out to pick you up some things.”

“That would be nice.” Alexa smiles at the plan as she looks down at the same outfit she has been in for over 24 hours now. Steve holds a finger up before he leaves the kitchen. Within the time he was gone she finished her hot cocoa. The man returns holding a pair of sweatpants and a Shield t-shirt. He sets them next to her.

“Those should fit and be warmer.” He commented as I looked at the clothes.

“Ms. Walker, Ms. Potts requests you use the company card to purchase anything you need.” Jarvis spoke in the room.

“Thank you Jarvis.” Alexa responds as she gets off the stool taking her cup to the sink to rinse it out. “Well Mr. Rogers, can you point me in the direction of the room I will stay in?” Steve shows her to the room she would be staying in. They would meet in a few moments after she had time to clean up and change.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

Steve was quite the gentleman, accompanying Alexa shopping and even offering to carry some of the store bags. Steve was loading her purchased bags into his car while Alexa’s eyes drifted across the street into the park where the ice rink was open and locals were sliding across the slick surface. The loud clunk of the trunk closing caused her to jump to face the taller male. His deep chuckle caused her to flush from embarrassment.

“Come on Lex.” He began to cross the street making the young woman follow quickly behind to keep up with his long strides. “Where are we going?”

Rogers turned walking backwards with a bright smile, “Skating of course!”

Steve paid for the skate rental and was the first to make it out on the ice. He used to skate every winter with Bucky and his sisters, sure he felt more balanced now and wasn’t afraid of catching the plague or something. Yet here he was gliding across the ice waiting for the other blonde to get onto the ice. Alexa however had only been ice skating a few times. She looked like a baby deer on new legs as she got on the ice.

A warm laugh drew her attention over to the super hero who was standing a few feet away hand to his chest as he laughed at her struggle not to fall. Alexa scowled as she wobbled over to the man who was a bit too personal with ice. “Don’t laugh at me. Last time I went ice skating my brother held my hand the whole time.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to you just remind me of a baby deer right now. It’s adorable.” As he spoke he held his hands out for her to take. He moved to her side and helped keep her steady enough for them to begin to skate around the rink.

As soon as Alexa seemed to have a good handle on it he let go and moved to skate backwards in front of her. Or at least he attempted to. A yell from a scared child as they fell distracted the man enough that he himself slipped to the icey floor. Alexa giggled as she stopped moving so she didn’t trip over him. “Didn’t you spend enough time on ice?” She teased earning a playful glare.

“You know what..” He started to get up, “I think there is something better we could be doing right now.”

“I don’t know watching the great Captain America slip on ice is a pretty fun way to spend my time.” Alexa began to skate away but Steve kept up with her.

“Let’s head out. I want to stop at one more place before we head back to the compound.”

Getting off the ice was a lot easier than getting on but Steve was right there to help her over to a bench so they could change out of the skates and into their boots. Steve returned their skates before the duo made their way to his car and off onto the last stop before heading home.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

A tree. Steven Rogers bought a tree, lights, and everything else they needed to decorate the green tree for the holiday. They put the tree in the corner of the main room, between a window and the fireplace. Decorating the tree with Steve gave Alexa a weird sense of homesickness. More specifically it made her miss John. Sure they fought but the way Steve kept treating her like a little sister just made her miss her older brother.

While wrapping the lights he purposely wrapped the string around her. She was too busy attaching the needed hooks to the ornaments to even notice the lights being wrapped around her until she looked up and saw the lights around her back and the tree. Steve stood off to the side with a grin on his face. She laughed and threw one of the ornaments at him which he ducked to avoid. It didn’t take long to get her out of the lights and properly apply the the string of lights before they both began to hang the decorations. Steve focused on the top, since he was taller. After they ran out of decorations Alexa stepped back and tilted her head.

“Would you like to add the star?” Steve’s question took her by surprise.

Placing the star was always something her brother did. If it wasn’t John it was Mike and before them it was her father. She never understood why she was never allowed to add the star but she remembered the one time her father let her do it as a child that ended with John throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get to do it. Her small steps forward to grab the silver star from the super soldier’s hands she was hesitant. She didn’t have long to linger on the thoughts as Steve lifted her from the ground so she could reach the top of the tree.

Star placed, lights shining, and a tree perfectly dressed the two blondes moved towards the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. As Steve poured the beverage into the two mugs he glanced up at the woman. “You mentioned being a fan of Amazing Grace right?”

Alexa glanced up before adding whipped cream and marshmallows. “I did. Why?”

He was silent for a moment, trying to find the correct way to ask what was on his mind. "I've been checking in on what happened to the Commandos since I've been back but.." When he trailed off, Alexa was able to figure out pretty quickly what he was thinking and finished his thought, "You can't find anything that makes sense on Grace?"

Each picked up their mug and moved to sit near the fire and the tree. As Alexa curled up on the couch she looked at the man in front of her. "That's because no one really knows. She kind of just disappeared one day. Theories spiraled through the media and gossip, the most common answer given is suicide but that never sat well with me." By the nod of his head Alexa knew he agreed with her.

"What are the other theories?"

She picked a marshmallow off her mug and ate it before answering, "The first to come out was; she moved back to the Midwest. That theory became a bust six months later when she never showed up to Charlotte and her brother Robbie's wedding. When she didn't show up to the wedding Howard Stark went to her New York apartment and that is where the letter was found that gave people the theory of suicide. On the other side of that theory people also began to think she was taken by Hydra again."

It was quiet as he took in what she had said. "You sound skeptical of all of those, what do you think happened?" Steve set his mug down next to a copy of The Hobbit that he had been reading before the unexplained arrival of the woman in an iron suit.

Alexa bites her lip as she looks into the dancing flames of the fire. "Being an assistant to Pepper, and Tony on occasion, gives me access to certain documents and information that isn't public knowledge. Half of which Tony doesn't always want me to see because it was his father's."

Blue eyes narrowed in on the woman. "What did you read that you weren't supposed to Alexandra?"

The woman winced hearing more of her brother's scolding tone than the man actually scolding her. "Ew you sounded like my brother." She muttered with a pout. Steve was still watching with a disappointed look. "It was a leather bound journal. Her journal,” There was a look of acknowledgement in his eyes at the mention of the item, “the one with the letter. It wasn't a suicide note it was a confession and research. Grace confessed that she couldn't marry Howard Stark because she fell for Sergeant Barnes. She explained what happened when she was taken by Hydra. Oh sweet honey iced tea, she recreated the serum from trial and error while using herself as a test subject. I think she was starting to lose her mind or maybe she was onto something. Her handwriting got messy and she talked about cryogenics and the ability a body could survive in a frozen state. The last part, maybe the key to what happened to her, was ruined by what I would assume was coffee."

It became so quiet, just the crackling of the fire as Steve took in what he heard. It stayed silent between them as they finished their mugs of hot chocolate before parting ways to go to sleep.

Waking up the following morning, seeing the snow outside and the perfect hill triggered one thought in Alexa’s head. Sledding. She changed out of pajamas and into her warm clothes and jacket before running to Steve’s room that he pointed out the day before while showing her to her room. His room was empty but there leaned against the door of the closet was the shield. Or maybe the perfect saucer. She grinned, grabbing the metal disk before rushing outside and up the hill. Sitting in the center of the disc she held onto the arm straps before sliding down the slope. As she tipped out of the makeshift sled at the bottom she broke out into a fit of laughter before hurrying up the hill to go down again.

She was on her fifth trek back up the hill when she stopped mid step. Cold flakes slipping between stands of her hair and sneaking its way down the nape of her neck from the bursted snowball that hit her upper shoulder. She turned around to see Steve Rogers in a gray army sweatshirt and black sweatpants, looking like he was just running a marathon.

“What do you think you’re doing with that kid?” He called over to her.

“Nooothin’.” She sang out in a mock innocent tone which did nothing but gain an eye roll.

Steve scooped up more snow to throw at her which she easily avoided by tucking behind the shield. As soon as she heard the snow hit the shield she scooped up her own handful to form into a ball and throw back at Steve. From then on a full mini war broke out.

“Stop using the shield, it's cheating!”

“Oh come on Rogers, your aim is worse than my ma’s!”

Having enough of the back and forth Steve ran over to the girl. Swiping her off her feet he tossed her into a pile of snow. Both laughing, cheeks and nose red from the cold, and in much better spirits compared to their last conversation the night before.

#john walker!sister #walk away #female original character #tony stark #pepper pots #steve rogers #captain america #iron man

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