As I round the corner, I come into contact with a solid mass. I quickly realize that the mass is Steve. "Oh, I'm sorry," I say, taking a step back.

He stares at me, like he always does, for a moment before smiling at me. "It's okay Charlotte." He says. "I should've been watching where I was going. It's good to see you out of bed."

I nod my head as I slightly rock back and forth on my crutches. Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho had told me it would do me some good to get out and walk around. So, I was hobbling my way around Avengers Tower with some crutches. "Yeah, it feels good to be up." I say timidly. I can't really explain it, but Steve intimidated me. It may have been the size or the research I had done on him. But honestly, it was just the idea of him. Dr. Banner had given me a brief recap of what had happened since I couldn't remember. He had also told me what I had meant to Steve. "Oh, you're in your uniform…" I hadn't noticed it at first.

"Yeah…" he says, looking down at himself. "Me and Barton- or uh, Clint, are going on a recon mission."

"Oh, okay," I say, nodding my head. An awkward silence fills the space between us. "Well…good luck, I guess."

"Thank you," he says. His face searches mine for a moment before he nods his head once and then walks past me.

I stand there until I can't hear the sound of his footsteps anymore. Letting out a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding in, I adjust my crutches and start hobbling down the hallway again.

oOoOo

"It's called retrograde amnesia," Dr. Banner says. He flicks his hand in the air, spinning around a hologram version of my brain. There were parts of it lit up a different color than the rest of it, highlighting where the damage to my brain was. "It's the result of the multiple beatings you received-"

"When I was kidnapped," I finish for him. A couple days ago Bruce had told me everything that had happened to me. I still didn't remember it though. "Resulting in a traumatic brain injury which caused the memory loss…yeah, I figured that out."

"Well," he says, swiping his hand over the hologram and making it disappear. "It seems some stuff is coming back to you. That's good."

"But not everything," I grumble. "Dr. Ban- er, Bruce…please tell me my memories will come back. I don't remember anything." I had already been on this rant before. "I can't remember any family, any of my childhood, anybody…any of you guys…"

"Steve," Bruce says suddenly. I snap my head up to look at him. "You don't remember Steve."

I let out a sigh as I prop my casted arm on the table next to me. "I just can't handle the way he looks at me," I say.

"This is difficult for him as well," Bruce says.

"I know," I say. "I just…I almost feel guilty. Like I did something wrong."

"You know that you didn't," he says, sitting down on the stool in front of me. "And he knows you didn't either. This is just an adjustment for him. You two were very…close before."

I nod my head. I knew that we were close, I could practically see it in his eyes every time he looked at me. "Would hitting me over the head again help to bring the memories back?" I ask with a half-hearted laugh.

Bruce gives me a smile as he shakes his head. "You were always funny, in your way," he says. "Good to see you haven't lost that."

"The girl who couldn't forget anything suddenly can't remember anything," I say. "Sounds like a bad movie plot line."

"Just give it time," he says, sympathy all over his face as he looks at me. "Your memories could come back."

I just nod my head. I had done my own research and knew there was a very real chance they couldn't.

oOoOo

"Hey," I turn my head to see Natasha walking towards me. "What are you doing out here?"

On my exploration of the tower I had found this balcony and had taken up residence here for the past couple of hours. Combing through old stuff of mine and different testing with Bruce had left me feeling drained. Sitting here, watching the city down below, was oddly comforting. "I just needed some fresh air," I say as she sits down in a chair next to me. With minor difficulties I was able to drag a chair right to the railing of the balcony, to better see the city. "Better than being in a hospital bed." Natasha was also one that intimidated me; but with her it was just because of her reputation.

"Barton and Rogers just got back," she says. I nod my head, still looking out over the city. "How are you feeling?"

I arch an eyebrow as I turn my head to look at her. I didn't take her as one to really care about the well-being of others, let alone me. "I'm fine," I say. "Head hurts, but that's to be expected."

She nods her head, not looking at me. I watch her as she purses her lips slightly and then lets out a small sigh. "We were friends…well, sort of. We had this…weird relationship." She says.

"Really?" I ask, not totally believing her. I think it over a minute before conceding. "Well, I guess that explains why you were at my bedside when I woke up." For some reason, which I'd have to ask someone eventually, everyone's records were online. Natasha's was with them and it was…an interesting read.

"Have you talked to Rogers any?" she bluntly asks. That was her style though…she got right to the point.

I shake my head as I look away from her. "No," I say. "I just…I don't know what to say to him."

"You told me once," she says. "That when you first met him that you didn't know what to say to him."

My brows furrow together. "What did I do?"

The fabric of her jacket rustles as she shrugs her shoulder. "I'm not sure," she says. "But you eventually figured it out."

I let out a sigh as I grab my crutches laying on the ground next to me. "Alright," I say. "Where is he?"

oOoOo

As I hobble up to the doorway, through the small window I can see Steve's face. It was screwed up in frustration. When I stop in front of the door, it opens with a hiss, causing him to stop what he was doing and look up to see who was entering the room. His face lights up for a moment when he sees it's me, but then dims again. My eyes immediately go to his shoulder, where there was a large gash. "Are you trying to clean that yourself?"

He lets out a sigh as he lightly tosses a pad of gauze onto the little tray in front of him. "Yeah," he says. "I can usually get it, but it's at a weird angle and I'm not very good with my left hand so…"

"Here," I say, making my way over to him. "I think I know some first aide, let me see if I can help."

"It's okay," he says, shaking his head. "I can get it."

"Sit down," I say, pointing to the table behind him. He obliges with a sigh, sitting himself on the edge of the table. "Sorry for getting snippy," I say, leaning my crutches against the table next to him.

"It's okay," he says quietly. I reach across him and grab the supplies he had been using. As I start working, the steps for treating a wound come back to me. Not all at once, but little by little. I move on auto-pilot, not really thinking about what I was doing, just doing it.

An awkward silence fills the room as I work. I was desperately trying not to look up at Steve and I could tell he was doing the same. Finally, I clear my throat. "I'm sorry," I say quietly. I didn't really know why I had said it, but I felt like I should.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asks. When his shoulder shifts slightly, I look up to see him looking at me.

"I just…" I say, suddenly at a loss for words. They were there, in my throat…but I couldn't get them to come out. "I just feel like I should."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," he says. After I place the last piece of tape on the bandage, I pull his shirt sleeve back down into place.

As I let out a sigh, I hoist myself up on the table to sit beside him. "I feel like I do," I say. I shake my head as I let my shoulders sag a little. "I don't know…there's just…I'm-"

"Hey," Steve cuts me off by placing a hand on my knee. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Do you understand me?" I nod my head as our eyes connect again. He really had beautiful eyes. "If anyone needs to apologize, it's me."

I can't help it, but a laugh escapes me. "I'm sorry," I say as the chuckle earns a confused look from him. "But no, you don't need to. I'm the one who forgot everything. And, from what Dr. Banner told me, it sounds like I was the idiot that wandered off and let myself get kidnapped."

Steve lets out a sigh as he looks away from me. "I shouldn't have ever even left you alone," he says.

"How did we meet?" I ask, trying to shift the subject.

"What?"

"Natasha said that the first time we met, that I said I didn't know what to say to you," I say. "So, how did we meet?"

Steve lets out a heavy sigh as he stands up from the table and starts to pace a little. After a moment's silence, he finally stops and looks at me. "Fury, who used to be the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., assigned you to help me assimilate to this time," he says, giving me a blank stare.

"Why would I help you?" I ask.

He shakes his head as he crosses his arms over his chest. "He thought you'd be best for the job," he says. There was something formal about his stance, almost like he was uncomfortable. I slide myself off the table and grab crutches before starting to head for the door. "Wait, where are you going-"

"I can't do this," I say, shaking my head as I head towards the door. "I just can't…"

"What do mean- Charlotte, we were just talking," Steve says, following behind me.

I walk out of the door and down the hall before answering him. "I can't talk with you. I don't know how to talk to-"

"Charlotte, you don't have-"

"I can't Steve," I say loudly, spinning around on my crutches to face him. He stops in his tracks and stares at me with a blank face. "Please…I just can't." He doesn't say anything as I spin on my crutches again and walk away from him.