Hola! It´s been a while since the last time, I'm sorry for that!
I hope this long chapter makes up for my delay.
I have been rereading the previous chapters and found tons of grammar mistakes, I am also sorry for that as well. I get anxious sometimes so I use google translate and don't take the time to see if every single thing was translated correctly. I know it is really frustrating to read poorly redacted stories. I try my best in two languages.
Thank you for your reviews, I love that you are enjoying it.
As the jet landed back on the Helicarrier, a dozen of armed officers greeted the strange group of passengers and handled Loki's transfer, under the watchful eye of agentCoulson, who gave Bella a quick smile before retreating with his prisoner. The young woman grimaced and looked sideways, once again gazing at the heterogeneous group she continued being part of, too comfortable with the Norse god who now replaced Loki. The mythical being in question stood with his back to her, watching hisbrother being carried away, giving her the overwhelming sight of his broad shoulders and muscular back. When the prisoner and his custody were lost inside the base, he turned to them and rested his eyes on Bella, making her gulp, noticeably nervous. Thor, the god of thunder, stood up to all his legends: a strong, tall man with long golden hair framing a perfect face, as if it had been chiseled in marble, only shaded by a long blond beard that in Bella's eyes, only made him immeasurably more attractive.
"My lady, I apologise if my earlier behavior caused you any harm". His ancient deep voice seemed to echo among those present. Especially in Bella, who had been dazzled the moment he had turned to see her. When she realized that that perfect face was waiting for an answer, she quickly cleared her throat and concentrated on remembering the question.
"No, I'm fine, don't worry sir", Bella said in her by then usual raspy voice as the blush invaded her face.
Nat leaned a little closer to Bella, hoping her closeness would help her feel less awkward. If it weren't that her young friend was having a hard time, Nat would have rolled her eyes. Bella had to get over it, she couldn't be enthralled with every blue-eyed muscle guy she saw. But even leading that position, Romanoff couldn't roll her eyes even in her own mind, she had to admit that that blond had something to make her doubt.
"I am deeply delighted. Could I know the lady's name?" he asked smiling, tilting his head lower given the huge height difference between them. Romanoff had her attention on Bella, wishing she didn't start hyperventilating, and on Stark as well, who started to walk, probably moving away from the group to remove his suit.
"Yes... Isabella... Bella. Bella Swan" she finally found the words, as she extended her hand forward. The questioned one took it immediately but didn't shake it as the young woman expected, but slowly brought his lips close and placed a subtle kiss on the back of it.
"It is an immense pleasure. I am Thor" he said, still holding her hand.
Nat saw how Bella's breathing stopped and Rogers' increased at the same time. She smiled inwardly with a bit of malice, perhaps a bit of jealousy between those two would make everything more fun. She decided to intervene by gently nudging Bella, a little to get her out of her hypnosis and a little in complicity.
"Well, that's clear". Natasha's comment only seemed to please the Asgardian.
"They're waiting for us inside", she spoke again, leading the way back to the base, being automatically followed by Thor.
Bella looked at Steve through her lashes, unable to help herself, and he returned her gaze with a half smile as he extended an arm, indicating her to move forward. Bella began to walk quickly as he positioned himself beside her, beginning to feel once again that electricity that had enveloped her in the darkness of the jet cabin, with the enormous difference that there was no darkness around nor physical contact between them at the time. She took a deep breath and felt a stabbing pain in her side, where she immediately directed her hand. Nat's maneuver to dodge Loki's attack was sure to leave a mark on Bella's ribs.
"Are you alright?" Steve wanted to know, his brow furrowed in concern. Bella nodded automatically, not really convincing him. They kept moving rapidly behind Nat until they left the deck behind. As they walked the series of corridors that would lead them to their destination, Steve and Bella stuck together, their hands sometimes brushing by the swing of their arms, leaving a hot spot where they touched. Heat spread inside each of them, pulling their muscles to seek the relief of more contact. Steve didn't even seem to have the energy to be embarrassed by his thoughts, he was investing too much strength in not grabbing her by the waist to bring her as close to his body as possible. Bella couldn't analyze the impressive reaction her entire being had in front of Captain Rogers, absolutely alienated by the impulse that appeared out of nowhere when they were together. Intoxicated with the need to feel his touch, she reached out her pinky to barely caress the back of his huge hand, stealing a sigh from him as he moved slightly to answer her. Bella was ecstatic, but deep in the back of her mind there was a poignant question that was very easy to suppress a bit more. Did that count as infidelity?
The electricity was so intimate that they jumped a little when Natasha yanked open the double door. The fluorescent light awakened Bella, who immediately lowered her gaze and went straight to where Hill was, followed closely by Thor, who took the place beside her. Banner was standing, with his forearms resting on the back of one of the chairs at the large table, frowning, his nervous gaze alternating between the double door through which strangers entered and the surface of the table, where the images from a camera were being transmitted. Steve took a seat close to him as Nat sat across from them, glancing at Bella to sit next to her. The young woman obeyed immediately, leaving Hill and Thor behind to take the seat to Romanoff's right, shifting awkwardly, trying to not look up to those big blue eyes that seemed to give her no break. Nat touched the glass surface of the table twice and began to reproduce what Banner had been watching intently: Loki in his cell, in a relaxed posture and observing everything with a touch of tranquility that made Bella's hair stand on end. They could hear Fury's voice taunting him, but it seemed to be something the prisoner enjoyed.
"Yes, I heard. An ignorant beast pretending to be a man".
Nat stared at Banner without thinking, a little to make sure he was still Banner and a little bit in sympathy. She experienced a strange feeling when she saw him shrug and tilt his head as if to indicate that it was not a big deal. Only the cynical comment Loki made after that could shake her desire to approach him.
"It's not the most interesting thing you have here, but I must admit that I am intrigued by the little girl. I suppose that after all this a vacation in Italy wouldn't be bad. A beautiful country." Loki spoke looking directly at the camera and Bella felt his gaze cross the table and enter her body, leaving an unpleasant sensation in her chest. Romanoff moved her arm closer to Bella, comforting her in the least awkward way she knew, as she watched Banner tilt his head in surprise and Rogers set his eyes on Bella. She also heard footsteps behind her, didn't turn around, but assumed it was Hill.
The girl gulped as she rested her body on the back of the chair, dropping her hands on her thighs and avoiding the gaze of everyone present. Perhaps no one understood what was in Italy, but you didn't have to be on topic to know that Loki was referring to her. She tried to breathe normally as the conversation between Fury and his prisoner continued.
"It bothered you that you were so close. Such power ... for what? Action figures and flashing lights".
Natasha shook her head, beginning to see what Loki controlled Barton's mind implied. Fury began to flow through his body and she clenched her hands into fists in reflex. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bella blink in surprise and Rogers lean forward, surely interested in the "action figures" part. Romanoff tapped the table twice again, making the images disappear. They had had enough.
"He wants to buy time. Thor, what's his plan?" Captain America took command.
"He has an army, the Chitauris. They are not from Asgard or any world you may come to know. He plans to use them against your people, they will probably secure the Earth for him in exchange for the Tesseract".
"An army... from outer space" repeated the Captain, assimilating the words aloud.
Bella had to stop listening to the conversation that was developing around her to focus on her breathing. The addition of aliens was naturally something that made her nervous, but she couldn't remove the image of Aro murdering Edward from her head. The edges of her vision blurred and that dark scene invaded everything. The voices around her became more diffuse and she felt a thunderous whistle in her ears, pushing her to the limit, causing a wave of searing heat to spread throughout her being that sought to come out at any cost. She raised her head slightly, suddenly invaded by a different fear, that of hurting someone, when she caught a glimpse of Coulson's relaxed figure stepping onto the bridge while having a friendly conversation with someone at her side. She felt the heat wave dissipate into an uncomfortable chill as she breathed normally once more. Nobody seemed to notice her despair and she relaxed noticeably. Coulson finally looked at her and nodded, wanting to know if everything was in order. Bella just smiled warmly at him. With her senses fully recovered, Bella could see that his companion was Tony Stark, already in his civilian clothes, walking at ease, as if the place belonged to him. As she watched him, she could feel Romanoff's piercing gaze on her cheek. Clearly she hadn't missed anything.
"With iridium the portal will not collapse like it did in SHIELD" he explained as he went to the command center "no hard feelings Breakpoint, you have a bad swing" he patted Thor on the shoulder as he passed, itching him for his resemblance to Patrick Swayze "also means that it will open as big and as long as Loki wants". As he spoke, he observed everything around him, more critical than amazed. He made a few more snide comments and continued:
"Barton can get the rest of the raw material easily. The only major component missing is a high energy density power source. Something to activate the cube". He emphasized his words with different movements of his hands, at the same time that he seemed disinterested in what he said, touching everything that seemed to intrigue him. Nat tilted her head, paying more attention. Bella hadn't turned to look at him, so she could only see Banner's attentive face and the confusion in Steve's eyes. She smiled when Hill, who was facing her on the other side of the table as she walked away from Stark, rolled her eyes.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" she asked skeptically. Bella turned her swivel chair to see Stark's expression, who with a shrug replied as if it were obvious:
"Last night".
He immediately rested his dark eyes on Bella and put a hand to his chest, exaggeratedly horrified.
"Oh sorry dear, are we using too many big words for you? Where is the one who played Galaga?" he said pointing to one of the agents who was at the controls. "Move, make a place for the girl". Bella rolled her eyes but couldn't help the blush staining her cheeks red, especially when the agent in question looked at Hill with doubt in his eyes, debating whether to stand up or not. Hill narrowed her eyes as she shook her head.
"Don't move" she had to tell him as she rolled her eyes again.
"What kind of power source does Loki need?" the captain intervened, removing Bella from the center of the jokes. The young woman didn't turn to look at him, but she was enormously grateful.
That question pushed Banner and Stark into a conversation in which Bella, and apparently the rest of those present, could only understand articles and connectors. Of course, Stark ended it with a nasty joke about the Hulk. Fortunately, Fury entered at that moment and indicated to Stark to collaborate in the search for the cube with Banner.
Bella was very fond of seeing Steve get excited about understanding a current reference, especially when he looked at her a bit embarrassed. She smiled sweetly at him and something inside the soldier seemed to light up.
When everyone began to disperse, Steve wanted to get closer to Bella. The excuse he had was to ask her how she felt (once again) but he knew very well that he just wanted to have her close. Bella could see the intention in his eyes and she straightened in her seat, anxious, but a deep voice interrupted the encounter.
"Italy?" Thor wanted to know.
Steve saw Bella's frown before she stood up and glanced at Thor, moving away from the table to speak to him. He looked at Natasha nervously, embarrassed at being exposed, and decided to follow the scientists. Romanoff watched him leave with a smile.
Bella felt an uncomfortable tingling in the palms of her hands, flustered by Thor's comment. Once a little away from the rest, she asked in a low voice:
"Do you know what Loki meant by "Italy"?" Thor cocked his head to hear her better and smiled, snorting a little.
"My lady, I think you know better than I do".
The young woman sighed tiredly, she was always uncomfortable talking about that, she felt like she was betraying the Cullens if she admitted the existence of their species with the freedom with which someone comments on the weather. The blond god saw the conflict on the girl's pale face and decided to continue.
"Vampires are creatures as ancient as ourselves. Especially the Volturi". Bella felt a lump in her throat when she heard him name the Volturi. Of course it was about them, but hearing the confirmation in Thor's serious voice sent a wave of terror down her spine.
"Is Loki close to them?" she wanted to know in a small voice.
"Closer than me, at least. Vampires are unpleasant beings, I try to stay as far away as possible" he said, making a gesture of displeasure. Bella couldn't contain herself.
"Not all of them are like that", she answered, raising her chin. Thor narrowed his eyes and then frowned, intrigued.
"Why would a mythical ancient monarchy be worried about you?"
He asked it so honestly that Bella wasn't even offended by the question.
"Maybe because I know what they are", she answered as if it were obvious. Apparently, Thor was waiting for that answer, because he smiled enigmatically and
replied:
"If it were for that, you would already be dead".
Bella could only manage to stare at the shiny black floor, avoiding his gaze.
"Don't worry, they won't touch you" he seemed to swear. The depth in his voice forced her to look up, fixing it on his blue eyes that now seemed icy. She had to blink several times to get out of the spell.
Was that a thing of gods?
"How are you so sure of that?" whispered the girl.
"Because I won't allow it" he declared with the weight of a thousand years in each word. Bella found herself overwhelmed by the stranger's gratitude, but she couldn't help but answer him a bit resignedly.
"I appreciate your intention sir, but I don't think I fall under your jurisdiction". Thor seemed determined to answer her, but Phil interrupted them.
"Thor, nice to see you again. I have information on Miss Foster, if you are interested". Thor reacted immediately to the mention of Jane and went to the monitor indicated by Coulson.
"Such a first mission!" he joked as he gently nudged her. Phil was much calmer now that he had seen she was okay. He watched her smile slightly, trying to find the right words to start with.
"Why do I have missions now?"she questioned after a second. Phil blinked in surprise and smirked, he had expected more complex or accusatory questions.
"Well, since there is a chance that you will become a field agent, it seemed like a good idea for you to see what it is all about".
Bella appreciated that he didn't say the word serum or that he wanted to know an answer.
"Field agent" she reflected aloud, "although I suppose that if I were a real agent I would have all the information, right?"
Phil smiled, comfortable with his friend's stubbornness at that point.
"Only a bit more. If I'm not mistaken, you have already been connecting several points".
"Some. Anyways, I don't understand anything. If the Tesseract is from Asgard and you already knew Thor, why didn't you give it to him in the beginning? What were you doing with it?"
"Tests" Coulson answered automatically, avoiding the previous questions.
"What for?" Bella insisted again.
"You know what for", replied Phil relaxedly.
"Were you studying an object from outer space that is an unimaginable source of energy just to see if it can make me grow a pair of mental muscles?"
"Yes".
Bella met his gaze with narrowed eyes for a couple of seconds.
"Do you have any convincing answers or should I just stick with these and suspect?"
"You should stick with these and nothing else", he resolved. Without giving her room to reply, he continued: "How are you? Loki only says those things to drive us crazy. No one is going to hurt you".
The distraction worked perfectly.
"I'm not the one who worries me".
"No one will touch the Cullens", he promised calmly. Bella looked at him and tried to believe him. Phil might not be very forthcoming, but in the history of their relationship, he had never broken a promise. It was more than she could say for other people who claimed to care about her... She sighed and lost count of the number of times she had inflated her lungs like this so far this day, overwhelmed by the direction of her thoughts.
"I'll go take some air" she said and couldn't help it sound like a question.
"Of course".
"Do you want me to come with you?" Coulson offered, though he looked to his sides slightly, aware of the work he had to do. Bella noticed it too.
"How do you justify your salary? Relax, I'll be fine" she joked to detach him from another task.
"Have a tea in the meanwhile. I no longer remember what your voice sounded like. And if you behave, then I will give you your present", Phil said while patting her head.
Bella blushed violently.
"Phil!" she objected.
"You didn't get a good excuse to hate your birthdays so deal with the consequences", he said before retreating to the controls while talking to someone on the intercom.
Wasn't anyone going to tell her anything else? Did she have to make a decision based on the few elements she had? She hated the idea of remaining frozen as everything passed her by, but she couldn't get mad at Phil. After all, he was the only one she could really count on. She couldn't help but cast a resentful glance at Hill, who ignored her again. That spark of fury finally convinced her: she needed answers and it was clear that she had to get them on her own.
She found a way to do it as soon as George, her former chauffeur, or rather Agent Gray, walked through the doors looking for her.
"I have orders to take you to rest, Miss Swan".
Bella just snorted and deigned to follow him, shuffling her feet a bit. On her way through the corridors, Bella began to observe everything around her, every door, every camera, every agent that crossed in front of her. Some of them, she could see, had access cards, which seemed to correspond to some of the doors they left behind. She sneaked a glance at George's suit, suppressing a smile when she saw that he toohad it, fastened to a lapel of his jacket. Suddenly a flow of adrenaline stroke her and began to sweat, she had never been a good actress or quick when making critical decisions. How the hell was she supposed to steal anything from an agent of SHIELD? She would have loved to have Nat's skills at that time. Or at any point in her life really. She knew she had to get too close to George so he wouldn't notice the extraction, but she also knew she was a lousy actress, so when she watched a group of four officers approach them in the confined hallway space and a large column to one of the sides, she took courage to seize that unrepeatable opportunity. Trying to dodge the agents, she moved quickly to the right, hitting the edge of the great column at the extension of her ribs. The pain in her side took her breath away and she had to bend over to bear it.
"Bella!" George exclaimed worriedly. He caught up with her and took her by the shoulders. Bella, still with her vision blurred by the tears that the pain had generated and her shallow breathing to avoid the stitches, took the lapels of his suit without hesitation to try to get up, making George go to hold her by the elbows, to put her on her feet. Bella took the card and took advantage of the moment when Agent Gray looked up to speak to the agents behind her, telling them that he would call a doctor, to keep the card in her chest, greatly appreciating the zipper that had embarrassed her earlier.
"No!" Bella said out loud, holding the stitch in the side,"it's okay, I just need to lie down. I took a good hit on the jet, it's not a big deal".
"What? Were the harness seats too subtle for you?" George said letting her on her feet, "it seems that you have a broken rib, someone has to check you. Your clumsiness is getting out of hand".
Bella smiled slightly, not so much at his joke but rather at the success of her move.
"I've been worse", Bella smiled, her nervousness increasing. She needed to be alone before George realized his pass was missing.
"Come", he said without losing her face from sight, taking her by the waist to guide her a few more meters to a room that fortunately did not need any special access. There were a couple of bunks and a table with a coffee pot and cookies.
"I'll call a doctor", George said in a tone that allowed no retorts. Bella was already panicking.
"Good, but could I ask you for some tea before? I have not slept at all and things haven't stopped spinning around me". The last sentence softened Agent Gray, who since dawn had been seeing how lost (and hurt) his protégé was.
"Okay, it's in the kitchen. Lay there. I'll be back", he said in a serious tone. Bella smiled gratefully, and enormously relieved.
She counted to ten before struggling to her feet, waddling to keep her side from hurting. She stuck her head out the door, looked carefully both ways, and went out again, walking without a fixed destination but with great confidence. Natasha had told her that the key was in that.
Confidence didn't last long, so she tested the card on the first metal door she came across and it worked. She felt a little calmer inside that warehouse, although it wasn't long before the silence began to feel suspicious. There were wooden boxes everywhere, some huge and somesmaller. She looked up where there was a second floor that appeared to have the samecontent. She froze in place when she heard two guards upstairs. She released the air fromher lungs when they showed no signs of having seen her and began to walk moredetermined: if there was security it was because they had to protect something. It took her a while to find the staircase that led her to the second floor, and by the time she got there, she was all sweaty from the pain that had caused her to push herself up each step. Up there were signs Bella couldn't decipher and a series of winding corridors, where there were large, dark trunks, protecting something entirely more important than the bland wooden boxes. She approached as if hypnotized, thinking about how she would open one, while the adrenaline inside her grew every second, causing a tingling to flow from her chest that accumulated in her extremities.
A noise behind her excited her and she turned automatically. The flow of energy from her chest to her limbs intensified and no longer lodged in them, but left them, seeking release and burn her fingertips. Bella took a surprised breath, ignoring the stab of pain in her side, staring at her hands in amazement, unsure of what had happened. But when she saw the person sitting up in front of her, the hangover of energy left circling inside her violently dissipated.
"Steve! I'm so sorry!" she said, almost screaming in her whisper. She approached him desperately, seeing how he had collapsed against one of the walls. The captain, stunned as he was, could only frown at her as he rose to his feet.
"Bella? What was that?" He asked looking around, beginning to suspect there was some alarm system that he could not identify.
"I don't know, but I'm very sorry", she said, staying in front of him. Being defeated by the urge to feel him, she reached out with her left hand, on the side that didn't hurt, to touch his arm and rub it a little. Steve immediately relaxed and moved closer to her, drawn by the intensity of her touch. He looked into her terrified eyes, which luckily had less blood than a few hours ago, trying to figure out what had happened. He reproduced every movement he had made in his head, but nothing seemed to make sense. He had seen her from behind, almost six feet between them. Also, she was unarmed, why was she apologizing?
"Did you hit me?" He wanted to know, incredulous.
Bella was very amused by that possibility and grinned.
"I don't think that's possible".
"And still I ended up on the floor" he accused her, keeping a slight smile. Her simple presence put him in a good mood, but her closeness acted on his body at levels he couldn't understand.
"I don't know what happened", admitted the young woman looking at the ground, looking embarrassed.
"What are you doing snooping in a warehouse?" he whispered a little amused.
"Who said I'm snooping around?" she asked defensively.
"All your guilty posture" he said as he put a loose strand behind her ear, absolutely lost in the chocolate of her eyes.
Bella felt her cheeks redden and she bit her lip. Steve burned inside, although from the magnitude of the heat of desire he felt, he could easily be on fire outside.
"You don't look very innocent yourself, Captain Rogers" she looked at him between her lashes.
Steve laughed but became noticeably nervous. Not so much because of the accusation, since she was also there clandestinely, but because of the naively suggestive tone in which she had spoken to him. He avoided Bella's gaze and fixed his attention on the dark trunks behind her, suddenly coming back to reality.
"Shall we proceed? "He asked. Bella nodded without hesitation and moved to let him pass. Rogers knelt in front of one of them and didn't seem to use much force to open it, discovering that the inside of the lid had a kind of screen that described the contents. He rested his weight on his heels, struck by the image of the weapons he knew so well. Apparently nothing had changed. What did surprise him was the reaction of Bella, who had carefully read the description and was laughing out loud, which sounded strange because of the diffony in her voice. Steve turned to see her, puzzled; he didn't find it funny at all. Bella began to cover her mouth and apologize, as she struggled to breathe normally holding her right side.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", she said between chuckles.
"Did you know about this?" He asked seriously, causing her to stop laughing immediately.
"No, of course not. But it makes sense".
"Does it make sense for SHIELD to make weapons with the Tesseract?" he questioned.
"No. It makes sense that this happens to me", she said resignedly.
Very carefully she sat down on the floor, staying at the same height as the captain, who was still looking at her, waiting for an explanation.
"That is what being me means" she began to say while pointing to the trunk with a finger, "that it's the possibility that was haunting me in the last few months, now come true. Of course! Why am I surprised? If I spend my time accepting anything brilliant and extraordinary that appears in front of me without questioning anything. The most natural thing is for things to go wrong".
"What do you mean?" Steve wanted to know, a little guilty for having hinted that Bella wanted to recreate HYDRA weapons. Bella, who by saying everything out loud was beginning to assimilate it, began to hyperventilate.
"I'm not Agent Swan, you know? I am a girl from many places who make very bad decisions at the same time. Maybe that's why SHIELD recruited me for a very dubious investigation. Apparently my mind does weird things and they wanted to experience what other weird things it could do in a lab. They clearly nailed it, you saw what happened when you scared me". Despite how fast Bella spoke and how nervous she seemed, Steve was able to connect a few strings. Her nervousness made him lean closer to her, wanting to ease her anxiety.
"Well, I'm no one to judge", he joked to lighten the mood. "What were you afraid of?" he asked, looking her straight in the eyes. Bella felt like crying and the words stuck in her throat. She swallowed hard in an attempt to ease the knot and replied in a cracking voice:
"Hurting someone".
Steve smiled sweetly, approaching her, sitting next to her, clenching his hand into a fist to avoid trying to erase the wrinkles on her forehead with a caress.
"Look at how you get at the idea of doing it, Bella. You could never hurt anyone".
His closeness and the sweetness in his voice penetrated deep into Bella, who almost instantly relaxed and leaned her back against the wall, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of their shoulders brushing against each other.
"Says the one who was sent to the air for having scared me", she said after a moment. She heard his soft, musical laugh, and the corners of her mouth lifted almost unconsciously. She opened her eyes to look at him.
"Maybe I deserved it", he smiled with friendly eyes and continued: "Can I ask how exactly would you do to hurt someone?
"I don't know!" she answered, frustrated, making emphasis with her hands, "but you saw that they are using the Tesseract to make weapons, easily the serum that they extracted from it could be used to make me... dangerous? and work for them. Steve blinked several times, his expression hardening.
"Serum?"
Bella's breath caught in her throat, well aware of the information she had slipped. She turned to get a better look at him, assuming they were going to discuss this, feeling strangely embarrassed but above all grateful to be able to share it with him, that of all people in the world, he knew exactly what it was about.
"Well, supposedly thanks to the investigation of …", for some reason, Bella didn't feel comfortable naming Agent Carter. "...of various SHIELD agents over the years, and because of the recent acquisition of the Tesseract, they were able to create a serum similar to the original by Erskine. One that they believe works".
Steve absorbed each word carefully, his brow lined with wrinkles as the memories invaded him.
"I'm sorry I don't have many explanations as to why they chose me". Steve relaxed his brow a little and sighed deeply, feeling the warmth of her chocolate eyes.
"Oh that's what makes the most sense to me. Don't you?" The young woman looked at him confused, but the captain did not give her time to answer.
"Why would you accept the serum?"
The question caught her off guard.
"I don't know", she admitted with her head down.
"Well then you shouldn't do it. Why do you doubt if yes or no, at least?
Dizzy in the vehemence of his gaze, of his closeness, of his interest, Bella responded without much thought.
"My entire life I had felt... different. Like a toad from another well. That's okay, we are all different. But over time that feeling became a shapeless void, so every time something that doesn't seem to fit in this world approaches me, I force it into that void. And I give my all for that. But eventually it becomes obvious that the edges don't match, and I start over".
Sadness had flooded Bella's face, pulling her features down and darkening her voice. Without thinking it twice, Steve took her hand and began circling his thumb, eager to comfort her.
It was the first time Bella had put into words what had been haunting her her entire life, and she felt strangely naked, vulnerable on a whole new level. She just wanted to lock herself in a dark room and cry herself to sleep. The only reason she didn't start doing it right there was that pleasant electrical discharge that colonized her hand, caught between the Captain's caresses. The latter did not know what to say to help her and made him helpless.
Bella, flustered by her own confession, decided to continue the conversation.
"And why did you do it?" she asked in a low voice.
"I wanted to help people", the soldier answered without hesitation.
Bella laughed quietly, as if she had been waiting for that answer.
"You could have become a doctor, or a nurse, or a firefighter. Why did you do it?" she insisted.
Steve considered the question for a moment.
"I wanted to feel that I was able to help people". He searched his voice for the right tone so as not to sound hostile: "If you need to force something to be okay, you shouldn't do it. It's not something you
can undo, you know". He smiled crookedly at her.
"And how do you know it?" Bella asked, frustrated, turning her whole body to face him. Their joined hands still gave her the strength to speak on the subject.
"You just know", he said resolutely. "I know it sounds like a made up phrase", he clarified when he saw her roll her eyes.
"It is a made up phrase", she said despite his clarification, smiling a little.
"Yes, and it's also true", he said stubbornly, in a cheerful tone, waving their joined hands in the air. He stared at them for a few seconds, already feeling that contact was insufficient. He shook his head and tried to explain it gently as he covered the back of Bella's hand, already linked in his, with the one he had free:
"You don't do that just out of an impulse" he shrugged. When Bella didn't answer, he continued: "I don't know Bella, out of an impulse you buy something expensive" he looked away from their joined hands to place it once more on those brown eyes that seemed to flood him with life. She held his rapt gaze, approaching him unconsciously. "Out of an impulse you hit something", he exemplified again, feeling a knot in his stomach, pressed by the growing tension between them, whose faces were less than eight inches away. "Out of an impulse you kiss someone…"
That word was the trigger for everything.
Neither of them knew who initiated the kiss, perhaps both at the same time, but they could only be aware of the moment when their lips finally touched. Steve lost all hint of rational thought when he felt Bella's hot lips filling him with life, with an electric current that hit him to the tip of his feet, making him grab her face pulling upward, so that they both stood up. Bella, intoxicated with the same sensation, understood perfectly and stood up, letting Steve's body push her to the nearest wall, without hurting her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaving her right side a bit resentful, but that didn't matter when Steve placed his hands on her waist, encompassing her almost completely. When she felt him ask for access to her mouth with the tip of his tongue, she lost what little control she had left. As their tongues met in a kiss that seemed to have been waiting too long, Bella sighed loudly and ran her hands over the back of his neck, over his shoulders, down his back, over his chest. Wanting to cover every part of his body in a second, sending him to the edge. Steve lifted his hands up to her hair, barely moaning into her mouth, pinning her closer to the wall as she held onto his broad back.
The sound of footsteps followed by voices made them separate abruptly, charging them even more with adrenaline. Steve put a finger to his lips, indicating her to be quiet, in a gesture that triggered sensations in Bella that she had never experienced. In places she didn't know she could experience that, too. Bella's chest rose and fell rapidly, excited and also careful not to breathe too widely so that her side did not hurt. Steve could only watch that clasp of her chest rise and fall, driving him crazy. So the gentleman in him made the decision:
"We have to go", he whispered, with no intention of really moving away. He was also breathing heavily.
"Yes", Bella sighed, looking at his lips the whole time, making Steve bring them back together without a second's hesitation. Bella was happy to deepen the kiss that time and clung to him as if her life depended on it, while his hands clenched her waist and moved up to brush the beginning of her breasts, above her ribs. At the second noise they heard, they separated again, this time silently understanding that they should get out of there. Steve caressed her face tenderly, making Bella close her eyes, too happy in the moment.
"I think Fury owes us an explanation" he said in a whisper, indicating the trunk with a shake of his head.
Bella agreed in a soft murmur still with her arms around him, causing the captain to place a soft kiss on her lips.
"Don't do this to me, Agent Swan" he said, putting their foreheads together. Breathing satisfied for the first time in what seemed like his entire life.
"You're right. We have to go", she said, giving him one last kiss. She dropped her hands to her sides and Steve felt a hideous emptiness that made him frown. Bella smiled with tenderness and took his hand, pulling a little for him to advance, intertwining their fingers in their search for the exit. Bella knew that many of her fears had been confirmed, and Steve was facing the bitter reality that the interests of the powerful had not changed at all, but still, they were floating in that dark warehouse. So much that when they were reaching the door Bella commented lightly:
"Birthdays are nice, don't they?"
Steve could not understand the purpose of commenting on such obviousness, but the light of those eyes that the blood around them wanted to dull was so great that he coincided in a soft laugh as he placed a kiss on her head.
That echo of happiness was still in the air when they entered Banner's lab.