blue and silver blur

Cole knew Jubilee was planning to come by tonight but the rest of the day was theirs to enjoy. Ever since he and Pietro had managed to reconcile–to truly talk out everything and come to understandings to help keep their relationship in tact–Cole gained a new appreciation for their time together even more than before. 

Their home still wasn’t completely unpacked and decorated yet, and the exterior renovations weren’t starting until the weather improved; irksome as all of this was for Cole, the home was plenty livable for the time being. After getting home from work that morning, he napped for an hour, showered and then prepared some of his Valentine’s Day gift, hoping that most of it might be done before Pietro got home. 

Still currently without cohesive couch furniture for the living room (he was still determined to get rid of what they had from the penthouse and purchase a new set), Cole pulled nearly every pillow in the home, along with several blankets and comforters and transformed the space into a giant fort. The bluetooth speakers were synced to his phone, softly playing some acoustic covers and ballads just outside of the fort itself. He managed to find a couple of strands of white lights from Christmas, and pulled all of the drapes shut on the room’s window. The entrance to the room had been somewhat sealed off by a couple of old blankets currently pinned above the entryway.

Thankfully, he managed to negotiate with one of the other agents to cover his shift tomorrow, so even though he couldn’t spend today with his husband, he could at least spend the next. Tucking his helmet under his arm, he made his way through the front door, hearing the familiar sound of paws against the floor. No sooner did he set the helmet to the side did Luna and Star come around the corner, tails wagging when they saw him.

Cole had time to take a deep breath and sigh most of it back out before getting an answer on the phone. It had been a while since hearing Pietro brought about a reaction from within him. Yet hearing those questions fire out of the speedster’s mouth, Cole felt an involuntary leap inside his chest. Leaning forward, he reached for his wine, “I’m fine, relax,” and brought it to his lips. “I’m at home…at the penthouse,” he added, speaking into the tilted, bulbous glass. Once he had a healthy amount down his throat, he added, “I don’t know what your…what your schedule is, but I thought we should talk sometime soon. Not… like last time, but really talk whenever you’re free.” 

He took another long sip of his wine while his own phone quietly buzzed in his back pocket. Adjusting his sitting position and pinning the other phone to his shoulder, he pulled the phone out to find an email notification from his home inspector. Cole opened the email and only skimmed it in the moment, long enough to see if any red flags stood out about the home. He couldn’t find any which felt like a strange relief as he sat on the phone with his husband. Shutting his eyes, Cole slipped his cellphone back in his pocket. Regardless of how this eventual conversation with Pietro would go, his mind was made up: he wasn’t going to live here any longer than absolutely necessary. 

While Pietro was relieved that Cole was safe, he couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes when told to ‘relax’. “Sorry, ‘relaxing’ is a little easier said than done these days.” He stared at the ground, an aching in his chest at Cole’s next words. “I’m free now.” He turned and grabbed a nearby hoodie, throwing it on as he walked out of the room. “Jay, I’ll be back.”

“No, Pietro we have to-” But he was already gone, blue and silver streams in his wake. Jay fell back into his chair, running a hand down his face. “I’ll just---wait here then.”

“Haha you could say that.” She was fully aware of how busy she always was. Jubilee was starting to think this was just the way she liked it. Idle hands were always a terrible thing anyway. She chuckled along with him and listened as he spoke. “Ah. Two peas in a pod we are.” The corner of her lips rose into a smile. It was like having a mutual understanding with someone and it made talks like this one a lot easier. She caught his expression and bit her lip. “Sorry. But then you had gone missing and I was terrified. I wanted to make sure you were okay. They took Alana and I felt like I needed to do something about it.” A pause. She took a deep breath before adding, “I’m out patrolling at night mostly. Anything I see that’s shady, I look into it. I do some investigation before I go in. I know there are others like me. Like the guy in the mask but…one more won’t hurt, right? It was a rough start at first. I’d get home all bandaged up a lot of the times but it got better. I got better. Even ran into your old partner Aiden before he took off. He helped me get home after a Hydra agent beat the crap out of me.”

Jubilee smirked and thanked him for the fries, plucking one almost immediately. “My favorite. Thanks, Pet.” She cast him a soft smile. “Yeah… a lot has been going on with what happened to Eva and trying to help Nadia out. Alma has been staying with me too and Clint has a lot going on as well. As for me, I’ve been working like mad as usual. Still recovering from Fashion Week. I have a couple of shows to set up to keep me busy well into the winter so there’s that.” Jubilee took another fry. “Yeah, I miss you. Things have been insane, huh? How are you? How are things since we last saw each other?” Jubilee looked out to the river again. “I brought you here because you shared something super secret with me and I wanted to do the same. You and Cole are my best friends and I can’t keep anything from you guys. Remember last year we got ourselves into some trouble with those HYDRA agents? Remember the thing you told me not to do after that? Don’t go an try to be a hero or something like that? Well…” She bit her lip and paused for a few seconds. “I didn’t quite listen…” 

Cole lay out on one of the terrace couches of the Baxter Building penthouse, his attention to the sun setting on another comfortable, Autumn day. He’d grown sick of staring at the boxes stacked around the penthouse but had been waiting on the results of an inspection for a property. There had been a discussion of lease-to-own, but Cole refused to sign anything before having the place thoroughly inspected first. Occupying his thoughts more, at the moment, was one of the two items he’d brought outside with him. The barely touched glass of Merlot stood toward the center of a nearby lounge table–lest Star or Luna wander out and knock it over, or attempt to help themselves to it. Turning over and over in his hand, however, was the small cell phone Pietro had given him.

Countless times, Cole considered using it, but each time the idea rose in his head, it was quickly followed by an internal debate that ended in him not using the device. Deep down, he knew that the two of them needed to talk–that their previous conversation couldn’t be left as though it would be their last. As much as the hurt had been eating him up, and the anger and resentment still lingered like the heat from hot coals, Pietro’s final words rang in his head as clear as day. He was trying. There were moments were Cole truly wanted to be comforted by that and other remarks Pietro made that day, but there were just as many times where Cole just didn’t know what that meant–trying at what? How long would all of this go on? How long could it go on before–

Sitting up with an exasperated sigh, Cole went to the phone’s contact list, finding only one: “Me”. He shot a glance up at the sky, thinking, Creative, to himself before hitting the ‘Call’ button and holding the device to his ear as it rang.

Pietro stared intently at the computers, Jay going on about something that the speedster had blocked out long ago. His partner was fretting, something that would not help their mission in any way. Besides, as Pietro had pointed out several times--he was capable of thinking on his feet and handling himself. Besides, he had several other things to worry about. Running a hand through messy, silver locks, Pietro turned on his heel, pacing the room when the vibrating phone caught his attention.

“All I’m saying is that you can’t just charge in and talk to this guy like nothing-” He was caught off by a raised finger as Pietro stared at the number that flashed across the screen.

“Later. I have to take this.” Throwing his hands in the air, Jay shook his head, muttering an acknowledgment before beginning to tinker with a device he was working on.

“You just got a free muffin?” Sophie asked, leading the small procession of identical blondes that had stopped beside Pietro’s table.

“Usually that’s a big markup item,” said Celeste.

“Is it secretly laced with hallucinogens?” Phoebe asked him.

“My big theory? It probably isn’t the freshest muffin and they just want to get rid of it. Not nearly as exciting as your theory, I know.”

They waited for Pietro to gather his words, ready to listen to whatever he did say. When he did begin to explain, their eyes widened, and they tilted their head. It took a lot for them to wait until he finished. Their confusion was replaced with sympathy for Pietro’s conflict. “I’m sorry, Pietro,” they murmured. “Doing what’s right…is always a good thing, but if it means you could get hurt or worse…Sometimes you have to be selfish. Especially for the people who care about you.” They bit down on their bottom lip. “I saw Cole recently. I know you two…are taking a break. Is this cause of the thing your job wants you to do?” 

“Among other things. SHIELD has always been a problem when it comes to my personal life. Namely their apparent---” He hummed, trying to find the right word. “--disregard for it. I can--I see where Cole is coming from and I understand his concern but---I just wish we could see eye to eye on this.”

Her mouth quirked up in a smile at her own answer repeated back to her. “You trying to say life is outrunning you now? Damn,” she quipped. “But…I’m here if you wanna talk. It looks like something’s wearing you down.” 

He ran a hand through silver locks, clearly thinking about something. “Well, it’s kind of hard to explain.” It took him several seconds to find his words. “I-uh--I work for SHIELD.” His gaze dropped at the confession. “Have been for years now. I didn’t question it--didn’t question what I did--but now? They’re asking me to do something dangerous. Really dangerous. And I want to do what’s right but---it’s kind of hard to tell what that is--where to draw the line, I guess.”