"AHHHHHHHHHH! NO! NO!" Stella yelled and jerked violently in her sleep. Steve immediately shot up and shook her. "Stella! Stella" He said. She opened her panicked eyes and looked around terrified with tears in her eyes. "Tony?" She asked for a moment, but suddenly remembered where she was. There was a long silence as Steve hugged her close to his warm body underneath the blankets.
"Haven't had one of those in a long time." She sighed after a few minutes of silence. After Tony died the nightmares were constant, but soon, they happened less and less. This was the first one she'd had in about 3 weeks-It's been about a year since the accident. It pained Steve to see her like that. It was hard after Tony had died, seeing her wake up like that, screaming in a cold sweat as she desperately searched for Tony when she woke up. After it happened, Rhodey had called a few times to check up on her, but each time she had Steve answer the phone and make up some lame excuse. After a while, he just stopped was silent, just stroking her hair that had grown nearly past her back now.
"What time is it?" Stella mumbled.
"5:43" Steve said as he looked over on the dresser at the clock. SHIELD had gotten them a small apartment in Washington with only one bedroom. At first, Steve was sleeping on the couch, but due to Stella feeling bad for him sleeping uncomfortably all the time and also the fact that she felt safer when she was in the same bed as him, they ended up sleeping in the same bed all the time. They were going to stay in Stark Tower, but seeing as that used to be Stella and Tony's home, Stella couldn't step one foot in the building without being reminded of the horrible tradgedies. Banner had felt guilty for Tony's death, though he did nothing wrong. He disappeared to some foreign country again. The other Avengers had all gone their separate ways, doing whatever they wanted until they would be needed again-which was hopefully never. But, for Steve and Stella-they continued doing missions for Fury.
"You might as well go running like usual-just a couple minutes early." Stella said to Steve. She got up and stretched as she yawned. "I'll drop you off and then pick you back up." She said. He smiled, remembering the first time she decided to go running with him. She couldn't keep up, and by the time Steve had finished his fifth lap, she was still on her first. Now that they lived in Washington, he would run laps around the Washington monument. Steve yawned and stretched and then got into his gray crew neck and gym shorts. Stella had already grabbed the keys and was waiting in the car. She and Steve both knew he could just jog there himself, but Stella liked taking him back and forth.
"I'll be back in 30." Stella said as she pecked Steve on the lips. "See you then" He smiled as he kissed her again. As he began his jog, He saw another man out running- looked like a soldier. He whizzed passed him, calling out "On your left" Each time, seeing the man shake his head as he laughed. Steve was rounding the corner as he heard the man.
"Don't say it. Don't say it" Steve smiled.
"On your left." And he quickly passed, hearing the man yell "Come on!" After a couple more laps, he joined the man, who was now out of breath sitting by a tree.
"Need a medic?" Steve joked.
"I need a new pair of lungs. Man, how'd you do that-That was like 13 miles in 30 minutes."
"Well, I usually do more" Steve laughed.
"You should be ashamed of yourself." The man joked. "Go do another one" There was a pause. "Let me guess, you just did? I assuemed you just did."
"What unit you in?" Steve asked
"58th para rescue, now im working down at the VA." He reached out his hand. "Sam Wilson."
"Steve Rogers" He said as he helped the friendly guy up.
"I kinda put that together. Mustve freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting."
Steve sighed as he looked around. "Takes some getting used to." He smiled and walked away "Good to meet you Sam"
"It's your bed right?" Sam stopped him.
"What's that?" He asked
"Your bed. It's too soft. When I was over there I would sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows like a caveman. Now I'm home, and layin in my bed is like-"
"Laying on a marshmellow" Steve said, knowing the feeling. "Feel like im going to sink right through the floor." Sam smiled at Steve. "How long?" Steve asked, referring to how long he was out at war.
"2 tours. You mustve missed the good old days, huh?" He asked
"Well….things aren't so bad. Food is a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet-been reading that a lot, trying to catch up." His phone suddenly beeped. Stella was at the corner and had just been informed that they had another mission. "Sorry Sam, duty calls." He said. 'Thanks for the run-if that's what you wanna call running" Sam raised his eyebrows.
"Oh that's how it is? Ok" He laughed. "Hey anytime you wanna stop by the VA to make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."
"I'll keep it in mind" Suddenly, a farari engine revved loudly. Stella (already in uniform) rolled down the window.
"Anyone know where the Smithsonian is- I'm here to pick up a fossil" She joked.
"That's hilarious" Steve said as he got inside the blacked out sports car.
"Where's the mission and when do we start?" Steve asked her
"Well. Its in the middle of the Indian ocean, and we start as soon as we get there." She grinned.