Sorry for the short chapter, all! College is nuts... In any event, I hope you like this little chapter!
The first day after was the worst.
When Steve was himself, he isolated himself in the gym or his room. If someone tried to talk to him, Sam would immediately emerge and tell them off. So they left him to his thoughts.
The day after, he was still isolated, but Sam didn't come out.
The day after that, he went out to sit with everyone, but didn't speak.
Finally, on the fourth day, Steve began speaking again.
"Hey." He said that morning. They all looked up in surprise. After a week of silence, Steve was talking to them again.
"Hi." Said Natasha, brushing the silence off as if it were dust.
"Oh, so now you're talking to us again?" Said Tony with his usual note of sarcasm. He was not going to let this silence be unnoticed.
"Just like you didn't talk to me when I needed help?" Steve countered. Then, with a sigh, he felt resigned. "I didn't come to fight with you all. I came to talk."
Tony took a seat at the kitchen table. "Okay. Let's talk."
They all gathered around the table and sat down. Steve was the first to speak.
"I wanted to apologize for getting so angry the other day. I was irrational about the whole situation and I was feeling overwhelmed. I should have realized you were only doing what you did to protect me. You all don't deserve that." He said solemnly, looking at each of them during the small speech.
"Don't put the blame all on yourself, Steve. We're just as guilty as you are for not saying anything when we first found out," Said Bruce. "You deserved the truth from the start."
"It's my fault for not telling you all about this. The blackouts stopped and I thought..." He trailed off.
"You didn't think it would happen again." Finished Clint.
Steve nodded, looking morose. "It was stupid and wrong, and I'm sorry. And I can't thank you all enough for protecting me from myself."
"You would have done this for us, and twice more if we would allow it." Said Thor, beaming.
At the Asguardian's response, Steve smiled and looked at the table. He looked around the table again, looking at everyone's faces, before asking, "Can you forgive me?"
"Steve," Natasha interrupted, "There's nothing to forgive."
He smiled at her.
"Come on, even tree bark isn't this sappy." Remarked Tony.
"Shut it, Stark." Natasha snapped. Tony would have made a snappy remark back, and was about to when he remembered that Black Widow could kill him with any of the objects on the table, so he held his tongue.
"The question here is if you can forgive us for being assholes by not saying anything." Clint stated.
Steve smirked. "Always."
"That's it," Said Tony, getting up. "I'm getting a drink. That's nacho level cheesiness right there and I don't want a part in it." He turned to walk to the built in bar, before there was a voice saying,
"Hey Tony." Rolling his eyes, Tony looked over his shoulder.
"Catch." Said Steve, throwing him a glass.
Tony smirked at him just a bit, and Steve knew whatever bad blood there was had been expelled from their relationship.
Steve sat there a moment, contemplating his team. He was incredibly lucky, he realized. He had been blessed with the good fortune of finding good people in this time period that gave him a sense of stability, which he hadn't had since he'd first entered basic training. He didn't realize how much he needed that now.
"Thank you." He said. They all looked at him.
"For what?" Asked Clint.
"For being there." He said. "It's something stable in my life. I need that."
Natasha half-smirked at him. Thor looked slightly confused, but pleased. Bruce's eyes held mirth, and Clint looked at him with understanding.
He paused, and then asked, "What do you all know about them?"
The others looked at each other warily.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Asked Bruce.
Steve nodded. "As I'll ever be."
Bruce held his gaze for a few moments longer, and saw the raw determination to get well in Steve's eyes. It was one he had seen countless times on the faces of children in Africa and Portugal, in the countries that were so poor they couldn't afford medicine. It was on sheer willpower that they kept going, and Bruce could see that glint in Steve's eyes. Nothing would stop him from getting his memories back and becoming whole again.
Bruce hesitated only a moment longer before launching into a description of Sam.
Please Review! I love reading your thoughts!