"Bitch, we've talked about this, he was meant to be mine." Katiana snarled at Wanda when Pietro put her down at the edge of the city. The Maximoff girl rolled her eyes and turned away, walking toward the market as Katiana continued to ream her, "Why did you engage him? Why did you let Stark take the scepter?"
"I'd like to know that too." Pietro asked as he lifted a beer to his lips.
Katiana swatted his arm, hissing "Where did you get that?"
"I went fast." Pietro chuckled, pulling another bottle from behind his back for Katiana, "For my Kitty Kat."
"If you keep stealing, you're going to get shot." Wanda warned, twisting her fingers to break apart a lock on an old abandoned home. "I let Stark take the scepter because he is scared. He'll destroy himself with the power he now holds."
"Captain America was mine. I could handle him." Katiana argued as she pushed through the cobwebs and sat on the dilapidated couch. "I tried to keep you out of sight."
"You are overprotective and I'm not a child. You don't baby Pietro." Wanda argued as she grabbed Pietro's bottle and took a sip.
Katiana jutted her lip out in mock offense, "I'm sorry I care about you more. If Pietro were to be taken by the Avengers, it would be much quieter." She teased as Pietro looked at her with a hurt expression. Katiana laughed loudly, resting her hand in her chest as she tossed her head back, "Oh Pietro, don't look so offended," she cooed, "you know we'd never let them take you."
"But we are on our own now." Wanda warned as she looked out the window as Stark's Iron Men took to the sky to leave the city. "Just as we were before."
"Except now we have the beautiful and brilliant Katiana to keep us company." Pietro slurred as he threw his arm around the woman, but she just pushed him away to look around their new home.
Wanda shot Pietro a dirty look and he shrugged, unsure what his sister wanted him to say. Wanda approached Katiana and wiggled her fingers, red dancing between them as she dove into her friend's mind. "You are scared."
"He said he knew me." Katiana admitted, her accent thick with emotion. "The man who Strucker told me was terrible said he knew me, and he called me Baby."
"I call you Baby all the time, it doesn't mean anything." Pietro interjected and Wanda raised a finger to her lips to shush him.
Katiana fiddled with the edges of her black hair, eyes darting across the dirty floor, "It was different. He looked at me like... He was so sure he knew who I was."
"He must think you're someone else." Wanda said darkly and Katiana shook her head, meeting Wanda's glowing eyes as she added, "You think he has something to do with your past."
"It isn't out of the realm of possibility, I don't remember who I am." Katiana argued as she crossed and then uncrossed her leg, feeling uncomfortable as she sorted through her thoughts and memories, "I was told who I was, I don't really know."
"You are our Katiana. You are our adopted older sister, and that's what matters. The Avengers are gone, and you don't have to worry about them again. We'll make a life here, the three of us." Pietro said sternly and Katiana looked to Wanda with a surprised expression.
"Older sister, huh? Wanda, does he flirt with you the way he flirts with me? Or am I a special kind of older sister?" Katiana joked and Pietro sped away out the door to do God knows what. Katiana rested her elbow on her knee to prop her chin in her palm, "I wish you could read the part of my brain that lost my memories. I would enjoy knowing who I was."
"Pietro is right. You are family, and you are the smartest woman I know. You can make up the rest. We'll be here with you, no matter what." Wanda reached down and took Katiana's hand as the woman looked up at her, wondering what life held for her beyond the safety of Hydra's walls.
Classical music played through Bruce's soundproof headphones, but just because they kept the sound of the jet out, didn't mean they kept his music in and Steve was getting more and more anxious with every aria that played. He padded around the quinjet in an effort to stay busy. He helped patch up Barton and checked on Tony relentlessly until the billionaire told him to take a sedative. Steve considered ripping off Banner's headphones and using them to block out the outside world, because Steve needed the distraction more than Bruce.
He wondered how far they were from New York, and if he jumped out of the plane, could we swim back to Europe and walk across the continent to Sokovia before his teammates caught him? Steve pulled the ring out from under the neckline of his uniform, and studied it, feeling like he might be able to give it back to Kayla after all. He moved to the back of the plane to be alone, reigniting the flame in his heart that he carried for the former President's daughter.
She'd been mourned. She'd been missed. He had been harassed every time he was in public about her disappearance, and he'd assured the news reporters he wasn't giving up, even long after Sandra and Tiffany had told the press they didn't believe Kayla was still alive. Steve often asked Sam about Tiffany and Sandra, but Sam stayed tight lipped, neutral. He lived with Tiffany now, and Sandra had retired to her family home in Virginia. Everyone was moving on. Except Steve.
Thank goodness he hadn't moved on.
"Thor, status update on the Hulk?" Natasha called from the floor where she knelt in front of Bruce.
Steve knew Natasha was fond of Banner. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she spoke to him. The lullaby they'd created together to lull the Hulk back into the Doctor. Steve watched their affection blossom as an innocent bystander, wishing he could go back and watch himself fall for Kayla Ellis all over again, and tell himself not to be so thick headed and to trust her.
"Cap?"
Steve looked up to see Tony watching him, standing over the scepter next to Thor. "Yeah, sorry."
Tony gave a grim smile, studying the soldier for a moment, "You okay over there?"
"Not really. The sooner we get to New York, the sooner I can get back to Sokovia."
"But you have to stay for the party. We're having a party, right?" Tony looked to Thor who just nodded happily.
"Of course! Victory should be celebrated with revels." Thor answered and Tony grinned at Cap.
"And who doesn't love revels? Captain?" Tony pressed, but Steve just shook his head, rejecting the request and causing Tony to groan loudly, "Seriously, you aren't darting back to Sokovia before the end of the week. Revels before Thor leaves. Banner and I will give this thing a once over before you take it back to Asgard, if that's cool with you? Figure out how Strucker was able to use it for human enhancement."
"The only thing that could make me stay is if this thing can tell me why Kayla didn't recognize me." Steve muttered, finally looking up from the scepter at Tony. "Loki used it to control Clint, do you think Strucker used it on Kayla?"
"Don't know. Only one way to find out. If Point Break says we can tinker with it?"
Thor nodded, "Just be careful. Even I don't understand how it works."
Tony turned to Steve with his arms spread, "So, revels?"
Steve considered this for a moment as he stared out the window, "How about you study the scepter. I return to Sokovia, and I bring Kayla back in time for your party. By that point hopefully you'll have some answers."
Tony looked to Thor and the demi-god shrugged at Cap's suggestion, giving Tony nothing to argue with, so he scrambled for his own reasoning, "Cap, she stabbed you in the chest, literally lacerated the skin above your heart. That girl isn't going to get on a plane and fly back with you before Saturday."
"I have to try. It's my fault Bucky took her, and it's your fault I didn't get his message until now. You have to let me go." Steve said evenly, and Tony was surprised how little anger he found in the Captain's demeanor. Just desperation.
"Fine. At least give the quinjet until tomorrow to get fueled up. The energy transfer isn't quite instantaneous yet. You rest. You let Doctor Cho look at you, and you head out first thing in the morning. You said she was there with the enhanced right? How do you know she isn't running with them now?"
"Well, you sent all of Strucker's info to Hill, right?" Cap asked casually, raising his brows.
"Yes, why?" Tony answered, looking up at Thor to see he was just as confused as Tony.
Steve smiled, and his mouth hurt because he hadn't smiled in so long, "If Hill has all of Strucker's info, she'll know about the enhanced, and she might know what they did to Kayla. I'll go first thing in the morning, and I'll be back by Saturday. Deal?"
Tony looked at Steve's outstretched hand and shoved his own into it, "Deal."
When the quinjet landed itself onto Avengers Tower, Doctor Cho and Maria Hill were there to greet it. Cho rushed Clint out on a stretcher with her staff with Natasha by his side, but Tony and Steve remained in the jet for a few moments until Hill joined them.
Steve sat on the ground, running his hand along the ripped fabric of his suit as Maria Hill called to Stark, "Lab's all set up, boss!"
"Uh, actually, he's the boss." Tony pointed down at Steve, and the blonde just looked up at Maria will a dull smile, finally feeling calm after getting Tony's blessing to chase after Kayla overseas. Tony smirked at Steve, continuing on, "I just pay for everything, and design everything. And make everything cooler."
"Well, you get to be in charge for a few days, Tony. Maybe longer, once she's back she'll need to rest. I might need a break." Steve admitted as he pushed himself to his feet and Maria's breath caught when she saw the puncture in his suit. Steve sighed, "I found Kay."
"I heard. Let's walk and talk, shall we?" Maria suggested and Steve fell in step with her as she began answering his questions.
"What's the word on Strucker? He talk yet?"
"NATOs got him, and no, he's been silent." Maria answered easily as she and Steve entered the tower.
"The two enhanced?" Steve questioned and Maria turned her tablet over so he could see what she'd found in Hydra's files.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special. They appear to be the only volunteers who survived."
"Volunteers?" Steve questioned as they walked and Maria nodded.
"Yeah, they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."
Steve hummed to himself as the video played of the twins protesting the Avengers, "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country? I couldn't imagine." Steve muttered sarcastically, and handed the tablet back to Hill. "What are their abilities?"
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Maria rambled and Steve raised his brow.
"English translation?"
"He's fast and she's weird."
"Is there anything on memory wiping?" Steve pressed and Maria stopped when they reached the elevators.
"Unfortunately, yes." She said, handing the tablet back to Steve, "Doctor List created a chip that, if implanted into the hippocampus, would suppress the part of the brain that stores events and personal memories. Theoretically, he could brainwash somebody into forgetting who they are."
"But you said suppress, not erase?" Steve clarified and Maria nodded, but didn't look optimistic. Steve looked at the file, not understanding a word of it, "Is she still in there somewhere?"
"Perhaps. You'd have to talk to Tony and Doctor Banner, but according to the schematics, this chip is the size of a grain of rice. The likelihood of removing it safely is very small."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Steve grumbled, handing the tablet back, but Maria didn't take it, "What is it?"
"That's not the only thing I found, Steve." She warned, swiping her fingers a couple more screens. Steve looked at what she'd shown him and tightened his expression, "Do you know what that is?"
"It looks like Kayla's formula for the super-soldier serum."
"And she made an anti-serum to match. Anybody could have this." Maria added carefully and Steve sighed.
He held onto the tablet and looked to Hill as the doors closed, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, too."
When he arrived at the party deck, Steve found Thor looking through the fan mail he'd started opening yesterday. He looked up and saw Clint through the glass of the next floor up, sipping a green smoothie with Natasha by his side, which meant Bruce and Tony were in Tony's half of the lab.
"Captain! What are these notes from the Midgardians?" Thor asked as Steve passed and Steve smiled, picking up a drawing from a small child of Thor.
"It's called fan mail. People send us things because they like us. Or, hate us, occasionally." Steve said as he saw a drawing of the Avengers standing over a pile of bodies. "Apparently it's been piling up for a while. We'll have to sort through it, eventually."
Thor nodded, setting aside the letter he'd been studying to pick up and open another one as Steve went to find Bruce and Tony. He found them in the lab as expected, having JARVIS run tests on Loki's scepter while they wandered about nearby.
"Stark, could you take a look at a file for me?" Steve caught Tony's attention and the billionare nodded.
"Sure thing, Cap." Tony said warily as Steve sighed, handing over the tablet with the information about Doctor List's chip. Tony studied it for a moment as Bruce came up beside him, then the tech genius handed it off to the Doctor. "You think that's what they used on Ellis."
"If I had to guess." Steve crossed his arms, feeling a pinch in his healing wound.
Bruce studied the schematics for a moment, then handed it back to Tony, "Cap, that thing is so small. I don't think I could remove it. You'd need a brain surgeon."
"Do you think it can be removed? If this is inside her head, are her memories still there? Is it worth the risk? I just need to know how to approach this. I'm bringing her home, one way or another, I just need to know if she's still in there somewhere."
"I mean, in theory, it's only supposed to sit on the side of the brain, it should be able to be removed, but there's no saying that removing it won't cause more damage. This is advanced." Bruce said and Tony raised his brow to his friend. "I guess, if I were you, since you're certain you want to do this, I'd approach her as if she's gone. You can try to tell her who she is, but it'll freak her out."
Steve hung his head, breathing out, "That's not the only thing. She created the serum, and the anti-serum."
"To what?" Tony asked as Bruce's jaw hung slack.
"To me."
Tony grabbed the tablet, pulling up the information Hill had found on the serum. "JARVIS, I need this flushed from every system you can find it in. If it's on the internet, I want you to tag it as a virus, don't let anyone get a hold of this. Save it for my files."
"No. Delete it all, even for us. This can't exist." Bruce looked to Steve, who looked sad and guilty, "For all of our sakes, get rid of it."
Tony nodded slowly, accepting Bruce was right, "JARVIS, you heard the man. Wipe it everywhere."
"Are you sure, Mr. Stark?"
"I'm positive." Tony answered, looking up to see Clint swing himself off of the table where Cho was working, "Alright, Cap, you're up. Go get checked out by Cho, get rest, then you can go to Sokovia. I'll, uh, give this another once over." Tony held up the tablet as Steve walked up the stairs to Bruce's lab.
"Romanoff isn't even sure that Steve saw Kayla. Could have been the enhanced girl, but he's determined." Bruce said as he took the tablet from Tony. "If Hydra used this on Kayla, they could have caused serious damage. I don't want him to get his hopes up."
"It's too late, Bruce. We can be supportive, or we can be silent, but he won't listen to reason. Just let him go. He'll figure it out on his own." Tony said as he watched Cho removing the paneling of Steve's suit to check his wound through the glass walls. "Could you imagine it though? Kayla Ellis, back from the dead? Imagine what that would do for this country?"
"It was a hard transition, I don't think it would do much good." Bruce mumbled but Tony continued his scheming.
"Yeah, but her and Cap together again. Imagine him... I don't know, I'm just dreaming out loud. He's had a hard time. It's awful to see the old man like this. It's like watching a widower." Tony sighed, turning back to the scepter, "Alright, let's find out your secrets."
Steve rose with the sun, showering and packing a duffle bag full of clothes and toiletries so he was prepared to stay as long as he needed to complete his mission. He dressed in his uniform and grabbed his shield, then made himself breakfast so he wouldn't be hungry on the ride. He didn't have time to waste, so he'd rather leave late than not be at his A-game when he arrived in Sokovia. He'd stayed up all night researching the Maximoff twins and their abilities until he understood what they were capable of like the back of his hand. He memorized all the intel on the chip inside Kayla's head, mentally preparing himself to never meet that woman again. He'd take her any way he could have her, and he was going to bring her home.
After eating, Steve rode the elevator down to the landing pad for the quinjet, finding the tower silent all around. "JARVIS, please start up the quinjet." He requested and the jet roared to life, opening the back to allow Steve inside. He took his seat in front of the controls and breathed deeply through his mouth as the back of the jet closed, "JARVIS, please set course for Novi Grad, Sokovia."
"Yes, Captain Rogers. You're estimated flight time is seven hours and twelve minutes."
Steve nodded to himself as the jet took off into the sky, wondering how he'd keep himself sane for the next seven hours, "Thank you, JARVIS. Please let me know when we approach the city."
"Of course, Captain Rogers. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, that'll be all. Thank you JARVIS." Steve muttered, staring into the endless abyss of the morning sky.
The sun had long set over Novi Grad as Katiana and Wanda strolled through the marketplace on Wednesday evening. Pietro had wandered off to harass Zrinka and her little brother about having dinner together, but the women were enjoying the peace and quiet of a cool evening.
Katiana stared up at the stars and sighed, a small smile growing across her face.
"They are, aren't they?"
Katiana turned to Wanda with an annoyed expression, "You know, you could just ask what I'm thinking? You don't have to look for yourself."
"I'm practicing." Wanda hummed, bumping her arm against Katiana's, "Plus, you don't talk about such things as pretty stars."
"Maybe I should." Katiana murmured, pushing a hair that had escaped her high ponytail from her face. She shoved her hands back into the pockets of her black jacket, "I don't remember if I've ever enjoyed the stars before."
Wanda's smile faded, "I'm sorry you can't remember who you are."
"They tried. Amnesia is no joke." Katiana laughed, raising her shoulders to her cheeks to keep them warm, "I don't remember summers here, are they always this cold?"
"Only at night." Wanda answered, grabbing Katiana's hand and leading her to a jewelry booth, "I have a few coins from Strucker. Pick something out. Something to celebrate this new life. We can get matching rings." Wanda plucked out a silver band with a red jewel on it, "Fitting for the Scarlet Witch."
Katiana shook her head, dismissing the nickname Pietro had teasingly bestowed upon his sister. She looked at the simple bands with fake stones, and took too long to decide, so Wanda plucked out an emerald and held it out. "Green. To match your eyes."
Katiana shook her head, dismissing the idea and picked up a ring with two small, blue stones, "No. I like the blue."
"Blue it is." Wanda said and handed her coins over to the saleswoman, "Put it on, I want to see."
She slid the ring up her pinky finger on her left hand, holding it out and studying it, "It's a little big."
"Then put it on another finger." Wanda responded and Katiana obliged, moving it from her littlest finger to the next one over. It slid on easily and sat perfectly around her slim ring finger. "There. Better, right?"
"Yeah." Katiana hummed as she looked at the ring, then up to Wanda, "People will think your brother gave it to me."
Wanda burst into loud laughter, shaking her head and sending her wavy hair tossing about, "Tell him you're taken and perhaps he'll leave you be."
Katiana grinned as Wanda slid her ring up her right thumb, nodding happily about how it looked as they continued on their way. They found themselves among the skyscrapers, looking up at the bright lights as they moved farther into the city. "Wanda?"
"Yeah, Kat?"
"Do you ever want to get out of Sokovia? See the world?"
Wanda shrugged and pursed her lips, "Not really. This is my home."
"Yeah, but there's so much more out there. We're just such a small dot, and now, now you and Pietro are more than this sleepy city." Katiana argued and Wanda just inhaled a deep breath.
"Do you think leaving Novi Grad will remind you of your past?"
"Maybe." Katiana answered, "Would you blame me if I wanted to remember who I was?"
"I know it plagues your thoughts every moment of the day. I don't blame you, but I envy you. I wish I could forget who I was and where I came from. What happened to my family."
"You have a family." Katiana stopped and grabbed Wanda by the arm, pulling her around to face her, "You have Pietro and you have me. Be thankful. I don't even know if I have anybody left beside you two. Strucker is gone. Everyone who took me is scattered in the wind, and I'm not even sure if the Avengers are good or bad. Strucker said they were bad, but when he was right in front of me... I don't know, he didn't seem so terrible."
"I kinda think Strucker was the bad guy, but that doesn't make the Avengers good. There is no good and bad, there's just right and wrong. We are treated badly and that's wrong, so we fight against those who suppress us. It's more grey than you think it is." Wanda explained slowly and Katiana followed as the younger woman continued walking, "Why did the other volunteers die, while Pietro and I survived?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm starting to think we were the bad guys. Strucker said we were going to destroy the Avengers, and that would make a better world. But we are the ones who buried the dead in unmarked graves." Katiana winced at her own words, pushing back that loose hair again. She stopped walking, turning and looking over her shoulder. "Someone's following us."
Wanda began to wiggle her fingers and the red danced between them, "I'll hold them off."
"No, you get Pietro and go back to the house. I'll be along soon. If they follow you, I'll take them from behind. If they follow me, I'll lead them away. Do you understand?" Katiana squeezed Wanda's hand, but the girl didn't respond, "Wanda, do you understand? Get to Pietro. They could be after you two because of Strucker's experiments. The Avengers know you're enhanced, go!"
Wanda turned around and walked slowly in the direction they'd come from while Katiana leaned against a lamppost. She pulled out a cigarette pack from her pocket and a lighter, lifting it to her lips to light up as she watched the shadowy figure hiding in the alleyway. She noticed them watch Wanda, but they didn't follow her, so Katiana stayed in her spot, keeping her eyes locked on the figure who stared back at her.
She blew puffs of smoke into the lamplight for several minutes until the figure finally showed himself, and she raised her brow at the massive man who emerged. He walked slowly towards her, dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket over a tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt. Katiana studied him, trying to place if she recognized the blonde man, but it wasn't until she heard his voice that she realized who he was.
"You know smoking's bad for you, right?"
Captain America.
Katiana huffed, rolling her eyes and bracing herself to run. Her words rolled off her tongue in an accent so thick the man barely caught them, "They are easier to steal than alcohol."
He took a step closer and she stiffened, lifting her eyes to look at him as he approached slowly, "Are you stressed?"
"Ha! You think? Look around at this place." Katiana snapped before shoving the cigarette between her teeth and reaching into her pocket for the pack, needing to see how badly the righteous Captain America wanted to talk to her, "Want one?"
He studied her for a moment, seeming to size her up as she did the same, "Yeah. You got a lighter?"
Katiana was surprised, and she opened the pack and passed him the cigarette, then pulled the lighter out of her pocket and lit him up before leaning against the lamppost again. "I'm surprised. I thought smoking was bad for you."
"Well, I'm in a tough spot. This is the least likely thing to kill me right now." Steve mumbled, not about to admit he smoked a pack a day in art school since his doctor swore it would help his asthma. "My girl's been missing for the past year. I wanted to apologize, I thought you were her."
"You know it's funny, I stabbed you, and you came back to apologize to me." Katiana said evenly, eyes sweeping over his chest, "You're fine. The serum works well, yeah?"
"You should know. You created a version of it. An anti-serum too." Steve said as he blew his smoke into the air above Katiana's head. She raised her brow questioningly and he chuckled, "I'm sorry, I mean, Kayla created it. My girl who went missing. She figured out how to recreate the serum that created me. She was brilliant. I really wanted you to be her."
"Kayla." Katiana repeated, tasting the name on her lips as she looked down at the snow, "She's the woman who knows you." She lifted her eyes, staring daggers into Steve's face, "Not me. Now get out, or I'll finish what I started yesterday."
"Why haven't you? Shot me, that is?" Steve asked, calling her bluff and she took the cigarette from her mouth and threw it on the ground, grinding it into the concrete with the ball of her boot. "You were so desperate to kill me, yet you're standing here talking with me now. What's changed?"
Katiana reached into her coat and Steve jut out his hand to grab her wrist, holding her there. She glared up at him, "Let me go."
"You don't know who you are, do you? You only know what Strucker told you. When did he find you? Last July?"
He let go of her hand and backed away a step, holding out his arms to the sides as he held the cigarette between his teeth. Katiana removed her hand from her jacket without retrieving her gun, and drew her brows, "What are you doing?"
"Giving you a chance to shoot me. I'm right here. Put me out of my misery so I can see my Kay again. You're right, you aren't her."
Katiana took a bold step towards him and ripped the cigarette from his teeth, throwing it on the ground and crushing it before leaning up on her toes to get in his face, "Stop trying to manipulate me and go the fuck away."
She turned and stormed back toward her home, hating how he knew everything about her, and how she could very well be Captain America's stupid girlfriend, but she wasn't anymore, and she was going back to her family and putting this gnawing feeling of familiarity behind her.
"You have a scar on the back of your neck. A burn mark right at the base of your hair, right? And freckle on the small of your back, right above your ass. You should probably get that checked out, but you're afraid the doctors will say its one of 'those freckles' that you should worry about."
Katiana raised her hand to the back of her neck and swung around, knowing everything he said was right. She looked around, seeing several people passing by watching them before Steve opened his mouth to spout out more things about her. "Your wrist pops when you shake people's hands, but you try not to draw attention to it because you're self conscious."
"Shut. Up." Katiana growled as she reached him, placing her hand over his mouth. "Alright, I get it. You do know me. Very intimately it seems, and that scares the fuck out of me. What do you want?"
"I want to prove that you're Kayla Ellis. You're the love of my life, and I did you wrong. That's why you don't remember who you are, because I messed up. I need to help you." Steve said when she removed her hand and Katiana narrowed her eyes.
"If you did me wrong, and that's why I don't remember my past, then I don't want your help. I'm perfectly happy here."
"That's a lie. I heard everything you said to Wanda Maximoff."
Katiana raised her finger to Steve's face, warning him not to say another word, "You stay away from them, do you hear me?"
"Or what?" Steve dared, putting his hands on his hips, "The Avengers are going to look for them. I'll make you a deal- you meet me at my hotel tomorrow afternoon, and you spend the day with me. I'll leave your friends alone."
"They'll kill you." Katiana warned and he just shrugged, "I thought you were the great Captain America, don't you have any regard for your own life?"
"Not if it's a life without you. Now that I know you're alive, I'll stop at nothing to win you back."
Katiana groaned loudly, leaning her head back to look up at the sky. "Fine. I'll meet you tomorrow."
"And the next day. I have to leave Saturday. I want you to come with me." Steve said boldly and Katiana huffed, so Steve deflated a little, "Okay, that's a little fast. Tell you what, you give me the next two days to prove to you that you're the person I claim you are. If by Saturday morning, you still don't believe that you love me, I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again."
"Well, that sounds nice. Sure, I'll suffer through two days with you to never hear from you again." Katiana sneered through her grin, but Steve's beaming smile made her uneasy. "Why do you look so happy?"
"Because if I can convince you that you're Kayla Ellis, you'll come home to New York with me, and I'll do everything in my power to get your memories back."
Katiana considered this, drawn to the idea of knowing who she was, but scared that she was the woman he claimed she was. "Okay." She said softly, thrusting her hand out for him to shake. "Where should I meet you?"
"Tomorrow at eleven, here, at this lamppost. If you're late, I'll find you." Steve winked and backed away, "It's good to see you again."
"Katiana." She blurted, making sure Captain America knew her name. She narrowed her gaze, knowing he was Steve Rogers, but wanting to hear it from him. "And you are?"
"Steve." He replied and, before he turned, "See you tomorrow, Katiana."
She lingered at the post for a few minutes, considering everything he'd said. He seemed to know more about her than she knew about herself, and that terrified and excited her. Katiana knew she'd have to tell Wanda what had happened. If she didn't, Wanda would pull it from her fucked up brain anyway.