That night, I lay awake, staring wide eyed at the wall across the room. Steve was asleep, my head resting on his chest. The vision he had told me about had shaken me more than I had initially told Steve. An image of what he saw was running through my head, but what bothered me most was what the vision meant. Steve doubted that he could uphold his promise to me to keep me safe. I hug myself tighter to him, his arms instinctively pulling me closer. Did he doubt that I trusted him? Was it because I had taken the fighting lessons from Matt? I would hate myself for waking him, but I had to put my mind and his mind at ease as much as I could. "Steve," I whisper into the darkness. Propping myself up on my elbow, I shake his chest a little. "Steve, wake up-"
"What's going on?" he sits straight up, eyes scanning the room for a threat. When he sees nothing, he twists to look back at me. "Are you okay? Why did you-"
"I am okay, Steve, that's the point," I say. Steve scoots back in the bed so that he's leaning against the headboard. "I just…I can't stop thinking about what you told me; about the visio-"
"This is why I didn't want to tell you," Steve says with a sigh. "This is my burden to bear. You-"
"I told you before Steve, we are a team," I say. "If something is bothering you, it's bothering me too. But that's not the point. Look Steve," I turn around in the bed so that I'm facing him and fold my legs under me. "I know that there are some forces in the world that we have no control over. Despite that though, I trust you, one hundred and ten percent, with every fiber in my body, I trust you. I wouldn't have stuck with you this long or even married you if I didn't."
My admission had shocked Steve. Maybe I just didn't tell him enough. "I know," he says, nodding his head. "But I still fear something happening to you every day, every second I'm not around you. I can't help it." I look down at my hands, not sure what to say. "Do you- do you think what I saw is somehow your fault?"
"Not entirely," I say after a short silence. "I just…I just feel like maybe I haven't been the easiest person in the world to live with recently. As Natasha said…I've had an adventurous streak recently."
Steve lets out a sigh as he scoots on the bed so that he's face to face with me. "I told you before, I don't mind that you wanted to learn to fight; I just didn't appreciate you lying about it. Was I thrilled when I saw you start fighting that Legionnaire? No, I wasn't…but that's who you are. You don't back down and you don't hide. As you said before, if that bothered me I wouldn't have stuck with you this long or married you." I blush as Steve leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead. "Look, you're right we're a team; a different sort of team than the Avengers. When I became Captain America, I thought my shot at something like this was over. I can't promise that we'll ever have a farm house in the country or anything…but as long as we're together-"
"We're going to be okay." I say with a half-smile. I lean forward and press my lips to Steve's. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me." I hear Steve say as I enter the foyer with Fury.
"I'll drop Banner off at the tower." Fury says to Steve and Tony. "Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"
"She's all yours, apparently." Tony says bitterly. "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know." Fury says with a shrug. "Something dramatic, I hope." He glances down at me, silently telling me to speak up or else he would.
"And I'm going to help him with the dramatic move," I say, looking directly at Steve. He doesn't look as surprised as I thought he would. "As someone once told me, I'm not one to hide."
"Good to see you back in action kid," Tony says.
"Yeah, still pissed at you Tony," I say curtly before turning on my heels towards the door. It would take me a long while before I wasn't pissed at Tony Stark again. I stop out on the front walk; Fury had told me to meet him by the barn, but I needed to say goodbye to Steve first. Steve stops in front of me as Tony walks past him. "It will be a long time before I'm not pissed at him."
"I don't blame you." Steve says. His hands come to rest on my hips as one of my hands rest on the star on his chest. "I know this may be falling on deaf ears, but please try to stay out of any fighting as long as you can."
"You too Captain," I say to him. He murmurs a 'yes ma'am' before leaning down to kiss me. Like all the times before, he slips off his wedding ring and gives it to me on the long chain. Steve gives me one more quick peck before releasing me and walking towards the jet. I stand there and watch him walk towards the jet, the early colors of dawn just barely cutting through the clouds. Clint passes by me, giving the top of my head a ruffle. Once I can't see any of them anymore, I turn back towards the house to see Laura standing on the porch. I wave at her once before walking towards the barn.
"Well you took your sweet time," Fury says as I approach the side of the barn.
"Isn't that the hallmark of superheroes leaving their girls? The long drawn out goodbyes?" I tease Fury. He just lets out a huff of air as he crooks a finger in the air, telling me and Banner to follow him. We round the side of the barn to the back side of it and come face to face with another quinjet. "Do I even want to know where you got this from?"
As we walk up the back ramp, Nick turns back and smirks at me. "Not if you like keeping secrets from your husband." I roll my eyes as I sit in a seat along one of the walls. "Let's just say an old friend lent it to me."
Once we had dropped off Banner at the Tower and picked up Hill, Fury set the jet on a course for somewhere in the Northwest. "So what exactly is our plan?" I ask as I walk to the front of the jet where Hill and Fury were piloting. "And don't just say 'something dramatic'…"
"Well, I figure we're going to need some fire power to start out with," Fury says.
"Do we even know what the team is doing yet?" I ask. "Besides destroying Seoul?"
Hill shakes her head. "I've still got comms up; so I'll know when they're going to make a play against Ultron."
I nod my head as I look out the front windshield. "We should have something for evac too." Fury and Hill both turn their heads to look at me in question. "Well, Ultron hasn't been known so far to do anything quietly. Innocent civilians could be in the way. We should have some evac plans to get them out of the way."
Hill shakes her head as she dials in a number on a keypad. "Sometimes it's a little too obvious that you're married to Captain America."
"Wilson is in," I say, walking onto the bridge of the helicarrier. "Him and Rhodey will meet us outside city limits." Fury nods his head in confirmation. I gaze around the bridge of the helicarrier. I never did meet our 'old friend' that had brought the carrier back to life; according to Fury, it was for the best that I didn't. Last report from the team was that they were heading to Sokovia. "Where do you want me sir? When we touch down in Sokovia?"
"We'll need all the bodies on the ground that we can utilize to help with evac," he says. "But I could also use your skill up here in the bridge. The choice is yours…"