Alone. Even when Steve was surrounded by people, he still felt like the loneliest person in the world. Being a 'hero' may have gotten him famous, but it also made him isolated. Things have changed so much over the past number of years, now everyone had a cell phone and a television. Everyone had a car and no one could explain to him why they needed any of this.

When they were catching Loki, Steve had almost felt like he fit it. He was in his comfort zone, being a hero was his comfort zone. However, after Thor took his brother back to Asgard, Steve went back to feeling lonely. He went back to being lost and alone in a world that wasn't his.

A few months after Loki left, SHEILD hired a new batch of recruits, not heroes, assistants. Steve felt this was mainly because not one of the Avengers had made it to a meeting since Loki, but he also had some idea it was more for his and Bruce's benefit. They were the ones who had no-one.

His new assistant was called Emily. A sweet girl, but he didn't let her close enough for her to take away any of the loneliness he felt. She tried hard to be a friend to him as well as to be a colleague, but he just didn't understand how to relate to her.

One evening, Steve was lying on his bed, thinking about how he wished it were a cot, when there was a knock at the door. He stood slowly and opened it. It was Emily, she smiled and he stepped back allowing her into the room.

'Is everything okay?' he asked, knowing that she wouldn't be here if there wasn't a problem.

'Everything's fine,' she replied in a forced upbeat tone, 'I just thought we could watch a movie.' She replied and moved towards the TV set that hadn't been used since Steve had adopted the room. He went to stop her, he didn't understand movies, they were all based on things he'd never heard of and they made him remember how far he was from anything he knew. But he didn't. He said nothing. Instead, he sat on the bed and let her play the film.

After the first few moments of watching he turned to her, 'what's this film called?' he asked.

'All Quiet on the Western front.'' She replied, 'I thought it might help you feel better.'

Steve only smiled and turned his eyes back to the screen.

A few hours later, the film ended and Steve stood up to stretch, it was then that he noticed Emily had fallen asleep. Quietly, he stretched his back and went to the other side of the bed. Gently, lifting her delicate form, she had no weight to her, or maybe it was his strength deceiving him. Effortlessly, he walked her to her room and laid her down on the bed.

'Goodnight,' he whispered and kissed her head, 'and thank you.'

The following morning, he woke up to the familiar sound of Emily knocking on the door. He called for her to come in, and she entered, carrying a cup of coffee and a folder marked 'secret'.

'Morning.' Steve said as she handed him the coffee. She only sniffed in reply. For the first time that morning, he look at her and was met with bloodshot eyes staring back at him.

He set down the coffee and stood from the bed,

'Hey, what's wrong?' he asked, moving closer to her.

'Nothing, I'm fine.' She replied, her voice breaking on the words. He moved closer to her and wrapped her in a hug. She broke down and told him everything.

'They're giving me a land position to work on the Avengers press and public appearance. I have to leave tomorrow.' Steve felt his heart break slightly. She was leaving. The only person in the world who understood was leaving. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let her go.

For the time being, all he could do was comfort her. Later, he would work to make her stay.

After what must have been hours of arguing with Fury, he gave up. Fury had decided that the personal assistants weren't working out for anyone, so he was sending them all into different areas. Steve stormed out of the control room and went straight to Emily's room.

When he entered, she was packing, and that broke his heart even more. He came up behind her and spun her round, pressing his lips to hers. They kissed only for a moment, but it was the best feeling Steve had had in the past century.

He rested his forehead against hers, 'I won't let you go.' he whispered.

'You have to.' She replied.

Two weeks later, an invasion hit New York and was tearing the city apart. While the others were trying to stop the invasion, Stark and the Captain were given the job of minimising the death toll. As Steve was scouting the wreckage around the street. he heard someone yell his name, 'Steve!' the voice called.

He recognised it instantly and spun around to see Emily standing on the twentieth floor of a precarious building. He began running towards the building scanning for the best way to get up there quickly. He found a suitable place to launch from and soon was up standing with her by the shattered window.

'Are you ok?' He asked as he checked her body for any sign of injury.

'I'm fine,' she responded.

'Come on lets go,' He commanded and made a move to lift her, but she stepped back.

'Take her first,' she said and motioned to the child clutching her leg. He hadn't noticed her before but knew that I wasn't going to be able to take both of them.

'Stark will get the kid, I have to get you out of here.' Steve said, trying my hardest not to sound too desperate.

'Steve, take her down. Now.' She said, her voice crisp and more commanding than Steve had ever heard it. He kissed her and told her he'd be right back while he swept the child up into my arms.

Descending was easier, he simply had to leap off the side of the building and land on two feet, no problem for him. When he got to the ground, he left the kid in the unharmed building across the street. When Steve tried to find my previous route back to Emily, he was panicked to find it had been destroyed and quickly started looking for another way.

Then it happened. A horrific cracking noise came first and then the whole building begin to collapse. He watched in dismay as Emily jumped, freeing herself from the rubble, but not thinking about the fall that she now faced. An explosion hit as the buildings fuel caught fire and she was thrown even further. Steve had to think quickly. He used instinct and ran to where her body was falling and began to climb the building on the opposite side quickly. He didn't get far but sprung from the wall and caught her, at least now she didn't hit the tarmac. He fell to the ground and, this time, didn't land on his feet. He hit with my back first and did a combat roll to minimise the impact on her. When they stopped rolling Steve sprung to his feet again and ran back to where he'd left the child.

He lay Emily down gently on the ground and looked for any sign of life. The impact of the explosion had knocked her out and his uncoordinated combat roll had left her ankle hanging at a precarious angle. He felt the tears well in my eyes and whispered, 'from now on, you're never leaving my sight.' He kissed her forehead and a hand caught the back of his neck, causing him to gasp in shock as he watched Emily opened her eyes. 'Okay, but you'll have to talk to Fury.'

He smiled and kissed her again, checking her ankle could wait, now, they were all that mattered.

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