"Natasha." The whisper was faint and breathy; the pitch was low and she could feel the wisp of carbon dioxide blowing harshly against her face. Hot breath with a strong scent of salt. Who's talking? He sounded familiar but she simply couldn't get herself to think.
She couldn't feel her own body. The weight of her hands, her feet, the feel of her own skin; they're not there. And she's horrified by the realization. Wake up, she told herself, and kept telling herself. Open your eyes, damn it!
"Wake up." The voice asked, his breath blowing to her face, ragged and desperate. "Please, please, please wake up!"
I'm trying! She wanted to say. I'm here, I'm here with you, oh person-I'm-not'sure-who. But instead she just felt numbness; this hollow void inside her core and no matter how hard she tried to swim inside her irresponsive mind to tap awake her nerves, she couldn't. She wanted to scream, to break free from the invisible bind. WAKE UP.
Then she felt pressure against her lips. Followed by a hard press with such force that jolted her limbs awake. She felt the blow of air to her mouth; the heat of his body was now growing stronger as her senses started to heighten. He was giving her CPR.
There it was. Light. She saw the light as her mouth choked out water and her eyes popped open. Sand. Rough, coarse, and white; sand. There's sand all over her, beneath her, sticking to her wet skin and drenched clothes and messy hair. She took a deep breath, sucking in all the oxygen that she desperately needed. Her blurry vision started to clear out, and that's the moment when she finally realized the presence of the other person right by her side.
"You're alive!" He chuckled happily, scooping her to his arms and laughing loudly out of pure joy. She was still in the midst of recalibrating herself, partially incapable of thinking but she could make out her surroundings well enough. They're on a beach, palm trees and all. The sky was a mixture of orange and purple, the sun was sinking and the reflection was mesmerizingly gorgeous over the endless blue water ahead of them. Beautiful but seemingly stranded. And they're the only ones there.
"What happened?" She asked weakly once he let go of her. She almost fell wobbly back to the ground if he didn't help her get on her feet. Tall, blonde, blue eyed, built. Oh. Steve.
Steve. Steve Rogers.
Wait…wait a minute.
She's alone with Steve Rogers, in the middle of nowhere, both of them still in their full uniforms and they're both soaking wet with seawater. How did they end up here? Why? She has so many questions that came popping up in her head and Steve could read the confusion in her eyes right away.
He was frowning with concern when he said, "you don't remember, do you?"