Steve's POV

"Ugh, thank god that is over!" Celeste exclaims, falling backwards onto her bed, arms out to her side.

I chuckle as I look at her. "Not everything you thought it would be?"

"Oh it was, maybe even more so. I always new a stakeout would be boring, but I don't think I've ever been on one where absolutely nothing happened. Not even a dispute on the street!" I move to sit next to her head on the mattress and she turns to look at me, smiling up at me. "How'd everything go here?"

"Good, just more of the same. Training every day. Wanda's combat skills are coming along. Sam started working on knife skills with her the other day. She's also been using her powers like we said she should. They come in handy for agility training." I chuckle, remembering getting her to throw objects at the men. Rhodey's bulky suit was just a bit slow.

"No luck tracking Klaue?"

"Nothing more since we last spoke. Speaking of, you seem a bit brighter than you did on the phone."

Last we spoke was about three days ago. She didn't have too much to say outside of reporting on the mission. I guess since it was so quiet, there wouldn't be too much to talk about from sitting in a room.

"Uh, yeah... just had an off day I guess." She sits up, so I can't see her face. But from her tone, I suspect there's something else going on.

I reach a hand onto her back softly rubbing it. She looks over her shoulder at me. "You alright?" I ask softly.

"Hmm hmm." She nods. "I'm gonna have a shower." She stands up, walking to the bathroom. "Wash this travel grime off of me."

"Did you want me to go?"

"No," She turns back to be, hands on the doorway, "you can stay. You can even join me if you'd like to?" She wiggles her eyebrows teasingly.

"As tempting as that is, I think I'd like to have our chat before we do anything..."

"Sure... I'll be a few minutes."

I lay back on her bed, hands behind my head. I can hear the shower turn on, and shortly after steam starts to make its way through the crack in the door Celeste left open.

Something is going on with her. I shouldn't really be too surprised though, she was pretty affected after Wanda's vision, we even had a talk about it at Clint's place after that all happened. Maybe that was it?

Soon I hear the water turn off. After a couple minutes she walks out with a towel around her head and she's dressed herself in her silk robe. My eyes travel down her body, admiring her long legs, her robe reaching mid thigh.

"Okay, so... let's talk." She says, sitting on the bed with her legs curling underneath her.

I sit myself up, so we can be at the same level. "You said you're still worried about your past..."

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Can we start there?"

"Honestly, I don't really know what to say about it Steve."

"After we spoke at Clint's, do you still feel that way about yourself?"

She purses her lips slightly, eyes focused on her hands in her lap. "Yes..."

"But you aren't that, Celeste. I've had the opportunity to spend time with you these past weeks, and you're so much more than that."

"One persons opinion of me isn't going to change the way I feel, Steve." She looks up to me. "It isn't that simple."

"Then who's opinion will help you change the way you feel about yourself? And what can I do to help?" I grab her hands in mine, gently squeezing. She squeezes back softly.

"I don't know..."

"I'll tell you. My opinion doesn't matter. Tony's opinion, Nat, Sam, Wanda's, anyone else's opinion of you... is none of your business." She frowns at that. "Because it's your opinion of yourself that really matters, Celeste."

She looks down again. "I just... I need time."

"And that's okay. But... maybe you need to take some time to work on it. Outside of this place?"

"Like see someone?" She asks softly.

"If you feel like you want to do that. I can't tell you to, you need to feel like you can. When I was growing up, we didn't really do that kind of stuff. I woke up from the ice, and that was one of the first things Fury got me to do, was talk to a professional. Even now... I feel like I was out my depth. Talking about myself in such a way. But... it did help me. And maybe it can help you."

"Maybe..."

"But only if you want to. If you don't then it's a waste of time for everyone involved. You won't be open to talking, and you won't get anywhere. But when you feel ready, I can help get you the information. Or if you prefer someone else to, that's okay. I won't be offended." I smile at her genuinely. "My only worry, is you. Because I care about you." She returns my smile, albeit with sadness behind her eyes.

"I'll think about it." She whispers.

"That's a start. I can't ask for anything more." I lean in and kiss her forehead.

"Not that I have to ask, but..."

"What is it?" I ask.

"I just have... a lot going on in my head... I just need you to be patient with me... I've never had this," she gestures between us, "before. So it's all new to me. Relationships."

"I can be patient. I'm probably the worlds leading authority on that." I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. It must have worked, because she leans in with a smile, touching her lips to mine.

She pulls away soon after. "Thank you." She whispers, I can feel her soft breath caressing my lips.

"You don't need to thank me, Celeste."

"No, but I want to."

We look into each others eyes for a moment, before she takes the towel off her head, standing up and heading back into the bathroom. "I'll be a moment."

"No worries." I call back to her. She turns the hair dryer on. After a couple of minutes she comes back out, now dressed in some sleepwear.

"So, did you want to go to the museum tomorrow? We all have the weekend off don't we?"

"Yeah, we do. Same plan?"

"Yeah. What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing." I smile.

"Wanna order some take out? Just hang out and maybe watch a movie? I don't feel up to hanging out with too many people tonight."

"Yeah, that's sounds good. What are we in the mood for?" I say, leaning over to grab my phone.

"Maybe Thai?"

"I don't think I've had Thai before... let's have a look."

I jolted awake, having that weird falling feeling. The television was still playing a show. Celeste and I must have dozed off at some point. I was sitting on the couch, with her snuggled up into my side. I gently grabbed the remote and turned the television off, then turned to see if I had woken her up. Celeste was still asleep, but had a crinkle between her eyes from the frown on her face. I lifted my hand and attempted to gently smooth it out with my thumb. It went away, but only for a moment. I decided it might be best if I get her into her bed. I manoeuvre myself so I can pick her up bridal style. Once I manage that, I move to her bed, pulling the quilt back and place her in gently. I then pull the quilt back up, tucking her in. I notice her frown again. My hand gently cradles her face, and I lean in to gently kiss her forehead. As I turn to leave, I hear the shuffling of the quilt.

"Where are you going?" She asks in a husky voice.

I turn back around, seeing her eyes open slightly, looking directly at me.

"I was just heading back to my room. I thought I'd let you have your rest."

"Will you stay?" She looks at me pleadingly. How could I refuse that?

"Sure thing." I move around to the other side of the bed, pulling back the quilt. "You can get comfortable if you'd like." I give her a confused look. "You can undress so you're not uncomfortable in your day clothes." She chuckles.

"Ah, thanks."

I do as she suggests, taking of my pants and shirt, leaving me in just my briefs. Once I get under the covers, she moves closer to me, lifting my arm which I put around her shoulders once she snuggles into my side.

"Get some rest, I'll be here in the morning."

"M'kay. Goodnight, Steve." She mumbles out.

"Goodnight, my love."

I nod off again, failing to notice her frown over her open eyes.

I can't say, but I feel like I had only just shut my eyes when I woke to Celeste screaming. The windows were rattling, and I was afraid they'd explode. I looked down where Celeste had been snuggled into my side, but she wasn't there. My eyes frantically searched the room until I found her on the floor in the far corner of the room, rocking back and forth with her hands fisted in her dark blonde almost brown locks.

I threw the covers off, making my way over to kneel in front of her. I placed a hand on her shoulder softly, "Celeste, are you okay?" I asked, having trouble keeping the frantic tone out of my voice.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, jerking her body.

I pulled my hand away, as if I'd accidentally burned her.

"Celeste, it's me. It's Steve." I said desperately.

"No! Leave me alone!" She sobs.

I felt my heart break, I honestly didn't know what I had done. Was she even awake? I couldn't tell, she hasn't looked up at me.

"I going to get Natasha, okay?" I said, I don't want to just leave and not say anything, maybe the mention of Natasha would help settle her. I pulled on my pants as quickly as I could, along with my shirt, then ran out the door to the next room.

"Natasha!" I yelled, pounding on the door. Soon after, it was wrenched open. Angry emerald eyes met mine.

"What is it?!"

"It's Celeste, I can't tell if she's having a nightmare or just upset, but she won't let me touch her." I rush out.

Her eyes widen. "Get Wanda, now!" She pushes past me, running towards Celeste's room.

I move to Wanda's door, and before I can say anything she's rushes past me also. I follow close behind, but stay by the entrance to Celeste's bedroom.

I glance inside, seeing Natasha cradling Celeste like you would a child, gently rocking her in a soothing motion. Wanda has a hand to her forehead, I can see scarlet light beneath her hand. Celeste is no longer screaming, just sobbing now. I feel sick to my stomach, wondering what happened, if I did something to trigger that.

After a while, her sobs began to quiet down, just small ones every once in a while. I decide to go and get her some water.

I return shortly after, glass of water in hand. My eyes instantly find Celeste's face, and it looks to be calm, as if nothing happened. Wanda is still touching her forehead with her hand. She turns to look at me.

"You can come in now, Steve. She's peacefully sleeping." She whispers.

I hesitate for a moment, feeling uncomfortable to walk into the room.

"It's okay Steve, it wasn't you." Nat assures me. I slowly walk into the room, placing the glass on the side table. "Can you help us move her back to the bed?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? She didn't want me near her before..."

"It's okay, Steve. Like Natasha said, it wasn't you. She was having a nightmare." Wanda says.

I move over and bend down, scooping Celeste into my arms. I move her back to the bed, pulling the covers back up. I gently moved some hair out of her face, which is now peaceful.

"Let's leave her, and talk in the kitchen." Nat says.

I follow them both outside, pulling her door to, so it wasn't closed, allowing some light from the dim hallway to enter the room. We make our way to the kitchen, Wanda putting the kettle on before pulling out three mugs and placing some tea bags in them.

We just sat for minute until the kettle had boiled. I couldn't stand the silence, so decided to break it once we all had our mugs in front of us.

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She had nightmare." Natasha said.

"It was a very traumatic one though... I-I could see it once I placed my hand on her." Wanda said in a whispered voice, sounding like she may cry.

"But it wasn't about you, Steve."

"No, it was not. It was about her past." Wanda affirms.

"I probably didn't help..."

"What do you mean?" Nat asked.

"We spoke briefly about her past yesterday."

"I don't think you can blame yourself for that, Steve." Nat says, placing a comforting hand on mine. "She had nightmares all week."

"Really?" I look up to her. My heart clenches at this. "Were they like this?"

"Not as bad, just some moaning and groaning until I shook her awake."

"Celeste thinks about her past almost all the time, Steve." Wanda says. "Whatever you spoke about last night, wouldn't have caused this."

"Except apparently it was worse than she's been having all week."

"Most likely because I caught the others before they got this bad. So don't make yourself feel guilty over something that seems to be a common occurrence."

"How'd she settle down?"

"Once I was able to wake her up, she spoke to us about the dream briefly. She asked if I could show her something." Wanda said.

"Show her something?"

"Something nice. I showed her something that would soothe her mind."

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you both for helping."

"Anytime. That's what family does." Nat smiled.

Celeste's POV

I felt a slight heat on my face, a brightness hitting my closed eyes. I rolled away from the offending, what I assumed was the sun, opening my eyes to see the other side of my bed empty. It was slightly warm, so Steve mustn't have left long ago.

I decided to get up and use the bathroom. I returned, just as Steve popped his head into the bedroom.

"Oh good, you're up." He pushed the door open more, a tray in his hands. "I made you some breakfast."

"Wow, thank you." I said genuinely. "You didn't have to do that." I walk back to his side of the bed, kneeling on it to get to my side.

"I don't have to, no. But I wanted to." There was something odd in his voice. "Get comfy, and I'll put it down." I do as he says, and he places the tray with its own legs over me. "I only made toast and cut some fruit, because not only is it the one thing I've really been able to make that I can't screw up, but also because I didn't know if you'd still be up for lunch today."

"No this is fine. I can't eat much when I've just woken up anyway. And yes to lunch." I smile at him.

"Good, now hopefully it isn't too burnt." He chuckles.

"Yeah, maybe if toast is all you can make, you should be having lessons with me." I laugh.

"Probably not the worst idea." He also laughs. "When I was on my own, it was mostly just bread or boiling stuff. I couldn't really afford much more, and my mother was working a lot before she got sick, so I never really learnt much."

"Well next time Wanda and I make lunch or dinner, you're helping."

"Sounds like a plan." He smiles. I start eating my toast and sipping on my tea. "So uh, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry about last night."

"No, don't be! It was a nightmare, like I said last time, I get them too."

"Yeah I know, I just... Nat said I wouldn't let you near me."

"Yeah... I thought I'd done something when we were asleep." He said in a sad voice. "Maybe I'd triggered something when we spoke yesterday."

"You didn't do any such thing, Steve. I've been having nightmares since I found out about... everything. Last night was just a bad one. So don't blame yourself, okay? It's not your fault."

"Okay."

"I think I would like to speak to someone though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... since I spoke with Tony a few weeks ago, it has been playing on my mind. Then we spoke yesterday, and this was such a bad dream, I think it'll help."

"I think so too."

"Yeah? Well... I just have to find someone. Tony already mentioned he could help with that."

"Well Tony's probably the best person for the job." I look at him funny. "Not because he's had to see one, but he does his research."

"Okay. Well I'll talk to him, get a number of someone."

"Sounds good. How's the toast?"

"The perfect amount of burnt." I say seriously. "Well done!"

"Oh thank god, I didn't want it under cooked." He replied.

"Oh no, I don't want to get sick."

"Also, they say charcoal is good for teeth whitening."

"What's wrong with my teeth?" I pretend to be insulted.

"Absolutely nothing." He smiles sweetly at me.

"Are you sure?" I ask, smiling big.

He only doubles over in a laughing fit, as I also laugh, licking off the toast and jam left on my teeth.

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