The next six days went by the same as Sunday: Kayla and Steve woke up, had sex, ordered room service, had sex in the pool, ordered lunch, had sex in the shower, had sex in the bed, ordered dinner, drank wine until they could almost feel tipsy, then had more sex.
Finally, by the next Sunday, the pair had exhausted every single technique the two could dream up, and they were ready to actually leave the resort.
Steve wore khaki cargo shorts and a black running shirt and tennis shoes, looking as much like a tourist as he ever had in his life. He held Kayla's hand as they ventured into a nearby town. Kayla wore a tiny pair of jean shorts that barely covered her ass, but showed off her muscular legs that went on for days. Her loose red tanktop flowed midway down her shorts, and the criss-cross of the back straps was already giving her tan lines. Her long, wavy hair was pulled up into a messy bun that worked as a nest of sorts for her aviator sunglasses. Life was simple. It was nice. Steve still opening doors for Kayla and holding her hand as they walked. The honeymoon faze would be short lived, but Kayla would soak it in and store it away. She wanted to remember her husband and herself like this, because this was the life she would dream about for the next three years.
Kayla was wandering down the street, looking into the store windows. A boutique caught her eye and she darted inside, beginning to sift through the clothing for something she could wear. An old woman sat in a chair near the cash register against the front wall, waiting to see if her customers were planning on buying anything today. She looked over Steve and Kayla curiously, noticing they weren't locals.
"You are Americans?" She asked, her voice heavily accented. The woman's grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Her skin was worn, and crows feet attacked the outer corners of her curious eyes. She watched the couple, the wheels in her head turning as she searched her memories for why these two struck a cord in her soul.
"Yes. We are on our honeymoon." Kayla responded proudly, placing her hand on Steve's chest to show off her ring before continuing trying on hats.
The woman nodded slowly, watching them carefully until the memory finally struck, and her curious face turned bitter, "You look familiar."
"Me? Naw, I'm nobody special." Kayla scoffed with a playful shrug, unaffected by the woman's prying. She was making friendly conversation as she placed a large black floppy hat back onto a table before picking up a red scarf and placing it around her hair. "Your accent. It's not Argentinian."
The store owner's eyes narrowed in on Kayla, spite clouding her voice. "German. And I wasn't talking to you."
Kayla tilted her head thoughtfully toward the woman. Her green eyes scanned the old lady for anything familiar, but her mind came up blank. This woman knew Steve, which wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. She was elderly, and very well could have been around when Steve was fighting in the war. Either way, whether the lady was crazy or truly did know who Steve was, it was time for them to go. Kayla picked out a red scarf with white flowers embroidered on it and took it to the counter for the woman to ring up. "I'll take this, please. We should probably get going. It's nearly lunch time. Do you recommend anywhere to eat around here?" Kayla inquired sweetly, her eyes never leaving the suspicious woman.
"There's a little cafe down the street. My grandson owns it. The food is delicious. I'll let him know you're coming." The woman smiled back, but her smile was devious instead of genuine, and it made Kayla's stomach churn.
"Could you tell my husband where to go? I'm terrible with directions." Kayla chuckled, but it was fake. She wrapped the scarf around her neck and wandered slowly to a mirror to see her own reflection, but she never looked at the scarf. She was busy eyeing the woman as she spoke to Steve, the man taking cash out of his pocket to pay for his wife's purchase.
"Thank you for your help. We appreciate it." Steve said and Kayla took that as her cue to leave. She made her way toward the door and waved happily as Steve held it open for her, resting his large hand on the small of her back as she walked.
As soon as she was out of the store, Kayla's smile dropped into a leery scowl. Once they were out of sight of the store, she unwound the scarf and pressed it into a garbage can. Steve stared straight ahead, going in the direction the woman had told him until he was sure she could no longer see them. "That was..."
"Spooky. Uncomfortable. Slightly unnerving." Kayla supplied, peering around, "Let's go back to the resort. Now. And stay there for a while."
Steve grunted, looking offended at her plan, "It's just a little old lady. I'm sure it's fine-"
"It's a little old German lady who seems to recognize you and wants us to go to her grandson's diner for lunch. Because she was calling ahead to tell him we were coming. Doesn't that sound a little fishy to you?" Kayla inquired. She twisted her hands, trying to get out some of the nervous energy she felt toward the woman. Her jaw was so tight it was starting to hurt and her eyebrows were crunched together in thought. "We could go back and have more sex? Sex is safe. Sex is far away from that creepy lady."
"What? Do you think she'd Hydra?" Steve joked with a laugh. He would never tell Kayla, but he was taking the situation very seriously. If Kayla knew that, she wouldn't let him investigate, but she knew her husband well after all these years and saw right through his facade. He was a soldier, not a spy, and lying didn't come naturally to him.
Kayla rolled her eyes, "Maybe. Why do you always feel the need to run into a fight? This is clearly a trap."
"I know. But if this really is a Hydra group we should look into it and stop them, Kay."
"After the honeymoon. We've talked about this Steve..." Kayla smacked his arm lightly, trying to knock some sense into his thick head. But she knew it was a losing battle with Captain America. Kayla sighed deeply, ready to acquiesce Steve's request. "Fine. But I still don't like it."
"She said they make amazing empanadas. I don't think I've ever had one. I'm curious." Steve admitted shyly, looking at Kayla from under his thick eyelashes. He knew she couldn't resist him when he acted cute.
"Yeah yeah yeah, I know you're curious, and it is not about the food. I already said we could go to the empanaaaadaaaas." Kayla cooed in return, gifting Steve a brisk kiss before grabbing his strong hand in hers. Kayla let him lead her down the street, uncomfortable, but willing to let her husband prove her wrong.
A bell rung as they entered the little cafe. It was worn down on the outside, but the inside was decorated brightly. Business seemed to treat the family establishment well. A young man practically skipping to the front door to greet them. He held up two fingers and Kayla nodded, "Dos." She answered in Spanish, earning a questioning look from the young man. "Zwei?" She answered again, this time in German, and his eyes hardened on her. Steve's glance fell on his wife as well, a stern look in his face. She was fishing for trouble.
"Mamma said you were coming! She met you two at her shop down the street." A man in his forties approached the pair, and Steve smiled at him and shook his hand. The man's English was very good, but his accent was thick like his grandmother's. "Here. I'll be right back to take your order. Anything to drink?"
"Water will be fine, thank you," Steve answered before Kayla could say something rude. He sat across from her, hands clasped together to begin scolding her. "Kay-"
"Don't Kay me, this is sketchy and you know it," Kayla warned, holding up her pointer finger to the sky to prove her point. "Let's get our empanadas and get back to bed. Unless you are tired of sex already." Kayla pushed out her lower lip, baby talking the soldier.
"Here you go." The owner sat down two glasses of water in front of the couple, and Steve turned to smile at the man, "Could we get two orders of your empanadas, please? Your grandmother recommended them."
"Coming right up." The man said, eyeing Steve carefully. Looking for something. Clarifying something.
Kayla pressed her pointer fingers together, pressing them to her lips thoughtfully. Steve tilted his head to the side, watching his wife. "What is it darling?"
"What's the best way to get out of here fast?"
"What?" Steve asked, beginning to turn his head, but Kayla just leaned in, gaining his attention again.
"Best exit. Now. They are coming, and they've got guns. Call it now Cap." Kayla pressed, eyes darting over her husband's head.
Steve hesitated, and it took a moment too long. He took a sharp inhale of breath as he felt the cold barrel against the lower part of his skull. "Up. Now."
"We don't want any trouble sir!" Kayla cried out, standing quickly to try to pull the man's focus away from her husband. "Why are you doing this?"
The man sneered wickedly, eyes locked on Kayla's "Hail Hydra."
Steve ducked and Kayla anticipated the move, dodging the bullet as it went her way. Steve grabbed onto the table they had been sat at and flung it as hard as he could over the seat to crash into the man who had held him hostage. The man hit the ground hard after meeting the table, lucky it didn't crush him under its weight. The gun fell from his hand. Kayla slid toward the door but was cut off by the old woman from the store. The older woman moved toward Kayla, backing her into the cafe as Steve fought the two other cafe workers in hand to hand combat, throwing punches that easily knocked them out.
Steve lifted his head to look at the old woman, finding her standing there, a small gun in hand. She had it aimed not at Kayla, but at Steve, who was caught off guard by the old woman. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We are just here on vacation." Kayla pleaded, finding herself in front of her husband as the old woman cocked the gun.
"Tell that to my husband. He killed him." The woman gestured to Steve with her gun, lip quivering as her eyes watered.
"What? When?" Steve looked down the barrel of her gun, gulping deeply. Captain America hadn't actively tried to murder people, but that didn't mean people didn't die at his hands.
"Austria. November 3rd 1943. My husband was working for Hydra, serving his country. And then... you came along. There were no survivors from the explosion at the factory. I know... I walked the grounds myself." The old woman sneered, her hand shaking from rage and old age. She seemed uncomfortable with the weapon, but years of pent up blame had led her to this opportunity, and she wasn't going to let it go. "And now, now you come here to hurt my family again."
"Oh. Yeah, that was definitely your bad. That was you and you alone." Kayla whispered loudly, backing into Steve's chest.
Steve put his arm protectively in front of Kayla, pushing her behind him to protect her. He didn't want to hurt the old woman, she was in pain, and it was his fault. "I didn't mean to kill anybody. I was just doing what I thought was right. I was just serving my country. I'm very sorry for your loss-"
"You chose the wrong side Captain America."
Kayla swooped down and grabbed the discarded gun from the floor, faster than the elderly woman could pull the trigger to shoot Steve. She kneeled down, one foot shot out to the side as she squatted near the unconscious man, aiming the gun at the woman and shooting it quickly. No hesitation. No remorse.
The woman fell dead before the couple, but it was Steve who shook, not the woman holding the gun tightly. She stared at her target. At her victim.
Kayla had just killed someone.
It wasn't the first time she'd considered it, it wasn't her first time holding the gun. She'd been prepared to kill Rumlow more than once. But she'd never been the one to pull the trigger, a gun more of a prop than a weapon. She'd never had the chance to pull the trigger.
"K-Kay?" Steve stammered, stumbling over to his wife as she rose slowly. The gravity of her actions came crashing down like a tidal wave. But that woman would have shot Steve. She was unrelenting in her revenge. Kayla had no choice, or else she would have lost her husband.
"Steve... I-I had to... I couldn't let her- she was going to-" Kayla held up the gun, not sure what she should do with it. "What have I done? Kayla collapsed into Steve's arms as the sirens got closer.
"We have to go. Let me take this." Steve wiggled the gun out of Kayla's hand and shoved it in the back of his shorts, pulling his running shirt over it to hide it. Then he scooped up Kayla and darted toward the kitchen, shoving past the swinging door and finding a door to the back of the cafe, sneaking away from the crime scene.
Once they reached their resort, Steve scurried through the lobby toward their suite, never putting Kayla down until they got to their room. Steve ran the jacuzzi tub and stripped off Kayla's red tank top and shorts as she stood before him, comatose in her own thoughts. She was drowning. She'd killed someone.
But... Steve.
"Hey. Hey it's okay. Baby, listen to me, you are gonna be okay. You saved my life. I love you... I love you so much." Steve pressed his forehead to hers, holding her face tightly in his hands. When she didn't answer, he walked her slowly toward the tub and picked her up, placing her in the hot water. He knelt beside her, watching her as she sat in silence, staring straight ahead without blinking. Steve gently rubbed his thumb against her upper arm, watching her carefully as she worked through the things that haunted her.
"I... killed somebody." Kayla finally muttered, eyes finally lifting from the cooling water to look into Steve's blue eyes. Drowning in his eyes. So full of life. She had to. She had to protect Steve.
"I've killed people too Kay. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I'm so sorry that I'm the reason you had to do it, and I'm so sorry I can't take that guilt away. But I'll hold you and kiss you and protect you from those demons that will haunt you. Today... might not be the last time." Steve admitted, knowing he couldn't help her, but he could ease her into the idea of moving on.
"Will you join me?" She whispered. He could barely hear her voice, but he knew what she was asking. Without speaking, he rose, pulling off his black shirt and discarding it on the floor next to Kayla's clothes. He gradually pulled the gun from the back of his shorts, meeting Kayla's gaze as he did. He pulled it around to his front, showing it to Kayla before cracking it in half and moving to throw it in their suitcase, to take it away forever. They were never there.
After Steve returned to the bathroom, Kayla smiled up at him hopefully, wanting him to join her. It was a small spark, but it was enough to convince Steve she'd be okay. He stripped out of his shorts and underwear, kicking his shoes to the side before climbing over the wall and sliding in behind his wife, letting her rest against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. He pushed his neck forward, allowing his chin to rest on her soft shoulder. They'd only been married a week, and feeling her against him still felt new. He was familiar with her body, despite it changing with the serum. But he enjoyed these quiet moments when he could memorize the sensation of her against his bare skin. She was his, and he was hers, and nothing she could do would make him love her any less.
Steve pressed soft kisses onto the back of Kayla's shoulder. He wrapped his large arms around her and ran his calloused fingers along the soft skin on her muscular legs, closer to her core. Kayla couldn't stop the shiver that shook her spine at his touch, and she blushed, her own body betraying her cool, calm demeanor. Steve took the slight movement as a sign to continue, and Kayla's head lulled back against her husband at his movements, almost happy she'd pulled the trigger. Because if she hadn't, she would be denied this pleasure, and that was simply unacceptable.