WhatDidIMiss: Are you okay?
MindifISlytherin: Yep. :) Never been better. Why do you ask?
WhatDidIMiss: Just checking up on you. I haven't talked to you in a while.
MindifISlytherin: I've been busy helping my brother get ready for his wedding. My boyfriend and I are heading out this afternoon. Hopefully he doesn't decide I come from a crazy family and dump me.
WhatDidIMiss: lol I'm sure he won't think that.
MindifISlytherin: You haven't met my family.
WhatDidIMiss: Did you ever figure out your feelings about your boyfriend?
MindifISlytherin: I'm not sure.
WhatDidIMiss: What do you mean?
MindifISlytherin: I love him but I'm afraid to tell him.
WhatDidIMiss: Why?
MindifISlytherin: What if he loves me back?
WhatDidIMiss: Would it be a bad thing if he does?
MindifISlytherin: I don't want him to love me.
WhatDidIMiss: Why not?
MindifISlytherin: Because it leads to disappointment and I don't want him to be disappointed in me. I don't deserve him.
WhatDidIMiss: How could you possibly think that?
MindifISlytherin: I'm not a good person.
Steve started to type when another message popped up.
MindifISlytherin: I have to get off soon and start getting ready to leave for the wedding.
WhatDidIMiss: So, if you're going to a wedding, are you in the actual wedding party?
MindifISlytherin: Ugh, unfortunately. I'm not even sure why because the bride hates me. Luckily the dress isn't too ugly. Weddings just aren't my thing.
WhatDidIMiss: What is your thing?
MindifISlytherin: I dunno. My boyfriend is pretty fun to be around. He's kind of clueless but in an adorable way. Mom's pretty excited to meet him.
WhatDidIMiss: I have to go but I'm sure you'll look beautiful at the wedding. Have fun, Slytherin.
MindifISlytherin: Try not to get in any trouble while I'm gone.
-0-
"Right on time." Roman smiled at Steve as she let him into the apartment, a robe wrapped around her body. "I just have to get dressed."
"Okay. I'll wait out here." Steve returned her smile and watched her as she disappeared into her bedroom.
"Hello, Captain Rogers." Penny greeted him warmly, digging in her purse to look for her keys. "You excited to meet the family?"
Steve chuckled. "I guess so. It'll be interesting to see where Roman comes from. It's been a while since I've been around a family, too."
"Well, her family is interesting." Finally having found her keys, Penny zipped her purse and headed toward the door then paused and turned back to face Steve. "Can I say something?"
"Of course."
Licking her lips nervously, Penny glanced at Roman's closed bedroom door then spoke. "Don't hurt her. She's hard to get to know and she's a little closed off but she's my best friend and I love her. She's made a lot of hard decisions and a couple of wrong ones but I think you're good for her."
"I like to think so." Steve said gently. "I don't plan on hurting her, Penny, and I promise to treat her with nothing but respect."
"Good. She deserves that."
"I'm glad she has you to look out for her," Steve told Penny. "You're a good friend."
"Steve!" Roman called from her room. "Could you take my suitcase to the car? I'll be down in a minute."
"Sure thing. I'll see you down there." Steve grabbed Roman's bag and joined Penny on the journey downstairs, making polite conversation on the way. He deposited the bag in the trunk of the black car waiting for them and leaned against the vehicle while he waited for Roman. Penny waved to him as she ventured down the sidewalk, her heels clicking on the cement. He glanced at his watch then back up at the building, his eyes scanning her windows for a sign of movement.
The next few minutes passed too quickly. The windows exploded, glass falling around him and clattering to the pavement as he shielded his eyes. Fire poured from the building, the horrible feeling in his stomach telling him that Roman was trapped. In an instant, he was moving to the building, the few feet between him and the car seeming like miles. His hand touched the door when another explosion caused the building to rumble and groan. Steve dove away from the crumbling building, yanking a panicking Penny away from it and covering her body with his own. His ears were ringing when he finally moved away from Penny and looked at the demolished building, fire crackling around the windows. Sirens came closer and Steve bolted into the chaos, running up the unstable stairs as far as he could go. Smoke filled the corridors and his lungs, causing him to cough violently. He pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth, a makeshift filter before the stairs collapsed completely, throwing him to the ground. There was no way to get to her apartment, he realized, at least not that he could see. He escaped the building and took several deep breaths of fresh oxygen as he found Penny outside.
"Did she get out?" Penny's voice was trembling and she was very close to breaking down entirely.
Steve said nothing, just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest as she started to sob. They both knew there was no way Roman was alive.
-0-
The firefighters had said it had been a gas leak that caused the building to explode. Steve read the report at least a hundred times. No matter how many times he read it, it didn't make sense. He was in the gym at Stark Tower, beating a punching bag within an inch of its life as he hated himself for not telling her how he felt before.
"Hey." A feminine voice pulled him out of his mind and he turned, panting from the exercise. Charlie was approaching him carefully. "What are you doing?"
"What do you want, Charlie?" He asked pointedly. "Is Penny okay?"
"Natasha's with her." She replied. "The poor girl hasn't been able to eat so I thin Nat's making her some tea."
"Good."
"Have you told her family yet?"
Steve recoiled like the question had punched him. "No. I haven't."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No." He clenched his jaw and turned back to the punching bag, striking it angrily until he managed to punch a hole through it.
"Steve." Charlie spoke gently, her fingers resting on his forearm.
Her tone made something in him break; he felt it snap as his chin began to quiver. His throat felt tight, like it was going to close as tears started to roll down his cheeks. Steve fell to his knees, sobbing with his whole body shaking. Charlie knelt next to him and pulled him close to her, her fingers stroking his hair as she let him cry.
"It'll be okay." Charlie whispered. "We're all here for you, Steve."
His chest heaved as he continued to sob, and he wrapped his arms around Charlie's waist, desperately needing to hold on to something. The team found them ten minutes later, wrapped around each other, Charlie murmuring gentle reassurances to him. Clint was the next one to move, kneeling next to Steve and putting an arm around his shoulders and the other arm around Charlie, cradling them both. Bruce and Tony followed, effectively forming a cocoon of sorts around their super soldier, doing their best to give unspoken promises of protection in the days to come.
-0-
Steve stared at the doors of the funeral home, steeling his nerves for what was about to happen. He took several deep breaths and swallowed hard. Finally he opened the door and entered, the sounds of mourning almost making him lose his resolve. He tapped a mourner on the shoulder gently. "I'm looking for Lillian Williams. Do you know where she is?"
He was pointed in the direction of a woman who had clearly been crying for the last several days. Steve passed through the crowd, the people silencing as he approached the mother of the woman he loved. Lillian looked up at him, sorrow in her eyes but a polite smile on her lips. "You must be Steve Rogers."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you for coming." Lillian sniffled, wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief.
"This is all my fault." He choked out the words, swallowing tears. "I am so sorry."
"This was no one's fault, Steve." Lillian replied, her own voice rough from crying. "And you are most certainly not to blame."
A/N: So, yeah...that happened. Please don't kill me. Do feel free to leave reviews, however, if you'd like. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited. You guys rock.
AgentAW: How's that for things going badly? Lol
Nisse: More about the baby will be revealed in the next few chapters. :)