"That's the last box." Steve says, looking at me with a small smile on his handsome face.
"Great. Tony has the truck downstairs waiting to be loaded. I'm going to do one last sweep in my apartment." I say, kissing my fiancée's cheek before entering the elevator.
It's been a month since Steve proposed. We're nearing the end of January and Valentines Day is around the corner. Ever since the New York invasion, we've all been doing our own things. Natasha has taken Steve under her wing and is going on more missions with him. Bruce and I have been busy working with Dr. Foster and Tony's been...well doing Tony things. Clint and Thor have both been absent as of late, the latter returning home to Asgard and the archer doing a few reconnaissance missions here and there.
I exit the elevator and unlock my apartment door, entering the empty space that was once my room. All my things that weren't moved to Steve's apartment is now on a U-Haul truck bound for Washington D.C. Since Steve and I got engaged, we've established residence in Steve's apartment in Avengers Tower, but now S.H.I.E.L.D. is moving him (us) to the nation's capital. We've already found an apartment to rent, another courtesy of Stark, and are just working on moving our things down there.
"Hey Cobs, where's the cap? Is he coming?" Tony asks, giving me an annoyed look while helping Clint load the last few things into a box.
"Yeah he's just moving the stuff from his place to the truck. Thank you guys for helping." I reply giving Tony a warm smile and helping Clint lift the last box of my stuff toward the elevator.
"Don't forget to come and visit us every once and awhile, okay?" Clint jokes, hitting the down button on the elevator.
"No problem Legolas. I've still got work here in New York I've got to finish before I can join Steve in D.C." I reply, giving Clint a reassuring smile.
The elevator doors open and the bright sunlight from the glass windows shine brightly outside. Clint and I load my last boxes into the U-Haul van, Steve and Tony coming out a few minutes behind us with the remaining boxes from Steve's apartment.
"That's everything. We should hit the road. Gotta make it to Delaware before midnight." Steve says, shaking hands with Clint and Tony before walking towards the driver side.
"See you around Cobs." Tony says, giving me a warm hug and kissing my cheek.
"Bye Mrs. Rogers. Don't forget to send us invites for the big day." Clint says, hugging me as well and giving Steve a salute.
"Don't sorry, you will be the first person on the guest list." I reply, giving the two heroes one last wave before entering the van.
Steve and I drive in pleasant silence as we leave New York City. The traffic is bad, as expected, and we wait for nearly an hour before we cross the bridge into New Jersey. It's late in the afternoon on a Friday so the traffic is extra slow.
"Are you hungry? We can stop." Steve says, keeping his eyes on the busy road, but giving me quick glances often.
"Sure. I have some sandwiches for us." I say, pulling out a small cooler.
"Great. We can stop here." Steve says, pulling off the highway into a rest area.
The late January air is cold, the temperatures being record-breaking, but it doesn't bother me. Steve pulls into a parking space and we eat in the van.
"We should talk about the wedding." I say after a few moments of silence.
It's a discussion we've been avoiding, neither of us sure how we're going to squeeze getting married in our busy schedule. Since Steve's proposal, we've kept our engagement on the down low. Only the teammates, agent Hill, and director Fury know of our engagement, the director even showing some enthusiasm for our nuptials.
"We should." Steve agrees, clearing his throat like he does when he's nervous. "What do you want to talk about it?"
"The basics, for instances like where should we get married? When? How big of a ceremony are we going to have?" I reply, not really feeling in the mood to discuss details.
"Where ever you want to get married, I'll do it. I don't care as long as I'm marrying you." Steve quickly interjects, looking me in the eye with complete seriousness and love.
"I don't care either. But...I was hoping to get married on the beach."
"The beach it is. When would you like to get married, miss Anderson?" Steve chuckles, referring to my maiden name as a joke that it won't be that way for long.
"In the fall, end of September? I always love Florida in September." I say, looking at my future husband, best friend, and the love of my life.
"That sounds good to me." Steve says, taking my left hand and kissing it, running his finger over the silver vintage engagement ring resting on my ring finger.
We finish our meal and continue driving, running into more traffic around Philly. We eventually call it a night when we reach the Delaware-Maryland border, checking in to a hotel off the highway.
Our room is small, but it's cheep and there's breakfast in the morning so I don't complain. Once we get settled into the room a little, I open my laptop and begin to check through my email. Since I won't officially be moved to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in D.C. until end of April, I still have to commute to New York and finish things there before I can join my future husband. We've agreed already to have at least a yearlong engagement, not wanting to rush anything, so the wedding plans are on hold, temporarily. I still haven't told my father, brother, or Dante yet of the exciting news, only Claire knows of my engagement.
Feeling soft lips land on my neck, I feel a shiver run down my spine as Steve kisses my quickening pulse. I inhale sharply, my mind no longer registering the words on my screen.
"Someone's anxious." I say breathily, watching motionless as Steve moves my laptop away.
"I haven't got a chance to be alone with you since New Years." Steve argues, moving his hands under my body to lift me out of the plush chair.
"That's not true. My birthday was pretty spectacular." I retort, moaning when Steve squeezes my butt cheeks as he moves us toward the bed.
"That is true. But I was called away early. I didn't have time to finish giving you your gift." Steve replies, laying me on my back as he crawls over me like a predator.
"What did you have in mind? I'm all yours tonight, handsome." I say in a husky voice, inhaling sharply as the super soldier tugs at my shorts.
Smirking and giving me a devious smile, Steve's face is transformed into a mischievous one, sending a shot of lighting through my body toward my center. "Oh baby, you're about to find out."
We arrive in D.C. around ten the next day, taking our time getting up in the morning and having breakfast. The city is different than New York. It's smaller, no skyscrapers or high rises, and there's less people. Our apartment is a small one bedroom, one bath place in a small building near the Virginia side and S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. It has a great view, a good size kitchen, and a working heating and air system, but it doesn't feel like home.
Steve parks the van in front of the building, getting out of the vehicle and walking over to open my door like a gentleman. We inspect the apartment first, making sure everything's secure before beginning to unload. The van is packed high with boxes, mostly of weapons, gadgets, and paperwork from S.H.I.E.L.D. We don't have any furniture so I add that to our (growing) shopping list.
Walking inside the cozy apartment, there is a few furniture left for us; a bed, a table with four chairs, some dishes, and a working microwave and toaster. The bedroom has a spacious closet and bathroom, and a nice view of the city.
"This will work. We also have a washer and dryer in this unit." Steve says, walking over to me, enveloping me in his arms.
"Yeah it will. We'll have to do some shopping though." I say, looking around some more.
"We can do that later. I'll start loading the boxes." Steve says, kissing my lips softly before leaving to start unloading the truck.
Working quickly we're able to bring all our boxes inside in record timing, Steve's strength and stamina helping. I begin to sort through the brown cardboard boxes, finding the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen boxes I had previously marked.
"Honey I'm going to go return the van to the U-Haul place!" Steve shouts to me from the living room.
"Okay, be safe." I reply from my place in the kitchen, unpacking the dishes, silverware, and pantry items we were able to take from the tower.
Moving on to the boxes in the living room, I find a few pictures that we brought with us, mostly of the other Avengers and my family. There's a small gold locket I find in the bottom of the box, laying on top of a picture of Steve's military friends from the war. Opening the golden trinket, the faded black and white picture of Peggy Carter looks back at me from inside the compass, the newspaper clipping photo beginning to noticeable fade.
I can feel my heartbeat quicken at my discovery. Steve still has a compass with a picture of Peggy. This is an unpleasant and unwanted discovery. I hold on to the golden compass, setting the pictures aside and moving on to another box. I continue to do this until Steve returns nearly an hour later.
"What's this?" I ask, showing the golden item in my palm toward the super soldier.
I can see Steve's face fall when he sees the item in my hand, my unexpected words obviously a surprise to him.
"A compass." Steve replies truthfully, swallowing quickly and eyeing me carefully.
"I know it's a compass. I opened it. I mean, what's this?" I reply calmly, opening the golden compass showing Peggy's picture to my fiancée.
"That's Agent Peggy Carter." Steve replies, his face-hardening slightly, an edge growing in his words.
"Don't give me that bullshit, I know its Peggy. I mean, why do you still have this? Is there some unresolved matter with Agent Carter that I don't know about?" I snap, my anger rising.
"What? No! Sky, you're being ridiculous! There's nothing going on with Peggy and me. She's nearly ninety-five years old!" Steve cries back, sounding defensive.
"That didn't stop you from looking her up. It hasn't stopped you from keeping this, this reminder of what she was. What you were." I say, feeling my jealousy rise.
"Skylar it doesn't mean anything! She's a dear friend of mine, but nothing else. Only a friend." Steve growls a flash of something crossing his face as he stares back at me, the compass in my hand.
I can't respond. It's not that I don't have anything to say, I have plenty to say, but I can't. There's a part of me that is warning me to not push this subject. I can tell by the look in Steve's eyes that he doesn't want to continue to talk about this, but this has been a sore subject since day one of our relationship. As long as Peggy stays out of the conversation, we're a happy couple. But, the second she's mentioned, I feel the claws of jealousy and sadness tug at my heartstrings and the monster inside of me beginning to surface.
I know I have nothing to worry about. Peggy is in her mid nineties, too old for Steve. She's had a husband and children since Steve's crash and her mind isn't in the right place sometimes. But, as long as she's alive, I know there's always going to be a part of Steve that belongs to her. That may always belong to her. That's the part that I hate the most, the part that makes my inner demons surface, my blood boil, and my control reach the snapping point.
I know it's not fair to put that kind of pressure on Steve, but the idea that he's in love with another woman doesn't sit well with me. Nor should it. I am perfectly justified at wanting to be Steve's only 'best girl' and I refuse to be his second anything, including his 'second best'. As I stare Steve in the face, I know I can't live like this anymore. I can't continue having this inner battle with myself. It will tear me apart, and maybe our entire relationship as well.
"I need to get some air." I say, tossing Steve the compass and walking toward the door.
"Skylar wait-" Steve says, grabbing my arm quickly.
"What? If you've got something to say I suggest you say it now while you still can." I growl, my voice deepening as I feel my powers surge through me. I know my skin's probably icy cold; I can feel the difference in comparison to Steve's warm touch.
"Please don't go. I don't want to keep avoiding this argument. We're getting married, I don't want there to be anything not said before we take our vows." Steve says, looking at me with softening eyes.
"Fine. Then say it." I say, my voice no longer a growl, but still edgy.
Exhaling deeply, Steve keeps a firm hold on my arm, scared that if he let's go I'll run. I've been known to take off if we fight. I don't always handle my anger well.
"I love you Skylar. I love you more than anything and anyone in the entire world. I've loved you since the day we met, since the day we first talked. I love your spirit, your independence, your beauty. I love you so, so, so much. Please give me a chance to show you just how much."
I am touched by Steve's declaration. I know he loves me. He loves me more than my brother, father, and grandfather put together, which says a lot. "I love you too."
Pulling me into his chest, Steve kisses me passionately on the mouth, silencing whatever witty or snarky comment I was about to add. I gasp as Steve's mouth forcefully opens my mouth, an aggressive move that is rare, yet satisfying. I jump up, wrapping my legs around Steve's waist and pushing myself closer toward my soldier, getting a moan and a growl from Steve.
"Bedroom. Now." I say between breaths, moaning when Steve roughly bites on my neck, leaving a large, blossoming hickey.
"Yes ma'am." Steve replies, complying with a large, cocky smile on his face.