Kayla didn't know the first thing about cutting hair, but Steve didn't remember that. A wicked part of her mind wondered what other lost memories she could take advantage of, like Steve's quiet hatred of shopping malls or his distrust of Facebook. Hell, she could tell him he promised her a puppy and she'd have a dog in her bed by morning. But the better part of Kayla just wanted to be near her husband, because he was trying to so hard to be there for her. Without knowing a single thing about her, Steve, who's mind was now ten years younger and probably didn't know the first thing about taking care of a pregnant woman, was willing to do whatever it took to make her feel more comfortable in their situation.

She grabbed a scissors and a razor from the drawer of toiletries, wondering if she should take Steve to their home for this. Maybe their memories, their pictures on the walls and their nick nacks they'd collected together over the years, would bring back the man who loved Kayla.

On the other hand, this was neutral ground, somewhere less overwhelming than the home Steve and Kayla made together. It was a hotel room, and Steve seemed nervous enough. Despite knowing he wasn't a child, Kayla couldn't help but think he wasn't quite the man who met Erskine yet.

He looked at her curiously, not because she was his wife but because she was a woman. His hungry gaze reminded Kayla that he was used to being ignored, and that his longing looks were never noticed. She could see how small he felt, and it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever experienced. She didn't know this Steve. He'd long become Captain America when he met her.

His sudden and silent appearance in the doorway caught Kayla off guard and she cleared her throat, gesturing for him to sit on the edge of the jacuzzi. Without a word, he followed her directions, then looked up at her with big puppy dog eyes and a soft smile. It took every bit of restraint not to collapse into his lips and show him how much she loved him.

"Okay, hold still. They did a bang up job so I'm gonna try and even this mess out." Kayla said in a tone she hoped sounded confident. She carefully pulled Steve's hair away from his head and cut a bunch of it, leaving it short near his scalp. She grimaced, knowing the first thing he would do when he got his mind back would be to get a better haircut, because Steve Rogers took pride in how he looked. Seeing him with his shaggy hair and unkept beard told Kayla everything she needed to know about his mental state on the run after the Accords.

As she did her best to even out his strands, Steve stayed frozen as a statue with his gaze locked up at the woman with him. Kayla knew if she wasn't about to pop she'd eat him alive. He'd been innocent enough when she found him five years ago, but the man in front of her had never had a woman's attention, let alone affection, and Kayla wanted him to break her in half and see if she could give him a run for his money in bed now that she had super serum too.

"There." Kayla said as she sat the scissors down and backed up, taking in her work. "Not terrible. Not professional by any means, but it'll keep it out of your face."

Steve looked to the mirror and paled a little, most likely from how short she'd cut his mop of hair and not the quality of her attempt. He forced a smile and thanked her, and she looked to the razor and shave cream next. He could probably do that. He should probably shave his own face. Or she could do it, and stay inches from his nervous blue eyes that tried really hard to focus on her face instead of her boobs because Steve was a gentleman. "You want me to do it?" Kayla blurted as he stood, and he looked over at her curiously. She scratched her head, the spot where she'd once had brain surgery to regain her own memories of the man before her. "I mean- I can help. If you need it. Which you probably don't, you're a grown man, I just-"

"I've never shaved a beard like this before, so a little help would be nice."

Well shit, neither have I.

Kayla nodded when he sat back down, turning and staring at her own wide eyes in the mirror, chastising herself for being so greedy with his attention. If she hadn't offered, he wouldn't have asked. "So, umm, I'm sure you're very confused. And scared."

Steve shrugged as Kayla deposited a heap of the shave cream onto the right side of his face, smoothing it over the thick beard as he muttered, "I'm trying to think of it as an out of body experience. Perhaps I'll wake up tomorrow and be back in Brooklyn with Bucky and my asthma and I'll wish I'd taken advantage of being in the future with you."

Kayla blushed a little, biting her lower lip and grabbing the razor. "Or maybe you'll wake up and remember us all."

He nodded and Kayla shot him a dirty look, grabbing his chin to hold him still. "Sorry." She softened her grip and carefully began raking the blade over his cheek, "So, how long have we been married?"

"Hold still." Kayla ordered before releasing his chin to rinse the razor in the sink. "We were married in November of 2015. About a year and a half ago. We've been together five years but it's been complicated."

"So I've heard." Steve mumbled as she approached, slamming his mouth shut as Kayla went back to work.

She met his eyes for a moment, then sighed, "A couple years ago I was kidnapped by the Winter Soldier. I had a chip implanted into my brain to suppress my memories, so I forgot who I was. So that's why this is such a sore spot for me. Because we keep forgetting each other."

Turning to clean the razor again, she sniffled, trying to hide the way her whole body trembled. It wasn't meant to be so hard. Love wasn't meant to be so difficult, but Kayla and Steve just couldn't catch a break.

Kayla turned when Steve stood beside her, taking the razor from her trembling hand, "I can take it from here."

"You don't trust me?"

"I think you just need a minute." He said sincerely, looking at his own reflection that was starting to look more familiar. "We don't have to talk. I can leave if you want-"

"No. I can go, but I don't want to."

"I don't want you to either." Steve assured her as his hands went on autopilot to clear the beard away. Kayla closed the toilet lid and sat, watching him silently until he was finished and washed the last of the cream away. She handed him a washcloth, taking a moment to stare as he dried his face. His stance was different. When he turned to look at her with a grin, her heart stopped for a moment, "What do you think?"

"Well, your face looks better than your hair." Kayla laughed and Steve looked back in the mirror, fussing with his choppy cut, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." He assured her. Steve fidgeted for a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do now. "I'm not tired, but I know you want me to rest..."

Kayla groaned and stood, and Steve caught her elbows to help her up, "I could go for an afternoon nap."

Steve hadn't considered for even a moment that the blonde would want to join him, but he wasn't about to object. He rubbed his thumbs against her arms, feeling how soft her skin was. He wanted her to touch him again.

She led him to the bed and sat down, kicking off her shoes before shuffling herself back to the headboard to lean against the pillows. Steve knelt to undo his boots, considering his next move carefully. He didn't want to play with this woman's emotions any more than he inadvertently was, but was he really expected to rest beside such a gorgeous woman and not want to be intimate? His mind didn't remember Kayla, but his hands on her skin felt at home. At the very least, Steve wanted to taste her lips once.

A sense of pride swelled in Steve's chest when he stood tall, seeing how content Kayla looked in his bed. For the first time in his life, he felt impressive and his girl was waiting for him. He rode this feeling while he had it, pulling up on the hem of his t-shirt to rip it over his head and discard it on a chair near the window.

Kayla raised one brow, questioning him, but he just allowed himself to fall onto the bed from the end, letting his head hit the mattress near her thigh. He closed his eyes and sighed, "I just don't believe this is real."

"To you it seems like a fantastic dream, but you fought tooth and nail for this. This took hard work and sacrifice..." Kayla hummed and Steve felt her fingertips drift across his cheekbone, "It feels like you never got a chance to enjoy everything you worked for."

"Can I enjoy it now? Before I remember what I had to do to get here?" Steve opened his eyes and tilted his head enough to see Kayla's face, but his gaze, and dirty mind, got distracted by her massive breasts. He wondered if she'd let him touch her, even over the loose sky-blue dress she wore. "You're beautiful."

"Seriously, you should see me when I'm not super pregnant." Kayla grumbled, reaching into a pocket Steve didn't realize hid in the soft fabric of her dress. She pulled out a small device and he rolled onto his stomach to crawl up beside her, sitting up and facing the headboard before she turned the device to show him a photo.

Steve took the thing, unsure if the electronic photograph was as breakable as the plates in his hands. Once the shock of the device wore off, Steve focused on what she'd shown him- it was him and her on their wedding day. She was dressed in a snow- white lace dress, but Steve couldn't look away from the bright red lipstick she wore and how brilliant her smile was as she laughed. He held her hips tightly, leaning around her to smirk as she tossed her head back in unbridled happiness.

He handed the photograph back, and she swiped her finger against it a few times before showing him again, this time a picture of them dancing. Her eyes were closed as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, ducking her head so he could press a kiss to her forehead.

"See, we were beautiful." She murmured, and Steve knew she wasn't talking about being thin and newly married, Kayla was talking about them being together and in love.

He took the device from her hand and placed it on the dresser behind him before leaning over her, clearly startling her because she gasped and wiggled farther down the bed beneath him. Her eyes couldn't seem to linger on his, and she kept dropping her gaze to his chest and beyond, causing Steve to smirk. "I've never done this. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Well you're doing it great." Kayla teased, finally gaining enough composure to meet his eyes and grab his clean-shaven cheeks, "I forgot how handsome you are. I've missed you..." she let go of him and cupped her hands together over her face, "It's like you're not really here, but it's still you, you just haven't become you yet, but you have and I'm so confused!"

"I don't want to take advantage of your affections, but I've never had a girl of my own. I kinda want to know what it's like. I got a wife and a home and-"

"A kid who is going to arrive literally any moment." Kayla hissed and grabbed her stomach, and Steve placed his hand over hers in alarm. She stiffened a little at his touch, but he didn't pull away, determined to show he wasn't going to run away. Just like a gentleman did, he'd stand by the woman he'd gotten pregnant. It wasn't like the child was out of wedlock, he'd taken a vow to stand beside her and damnit he would.

After a long moment, Kayla pulled her hand away and sat it on top of Steve's holding him against the baby. He held his breath, waiting to feel the baby do something, anything. They were still, until suddenly, Steve felt a wallop against Kayla's skin and she whined, "Baby, owww."

Steve chuckled, rubbing her stomach before leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to her lips until he realized what he'd done. He pulled away, staring at her in shock as the feeling of her lingered on his lips. She quickly grabbed his cheeks and pulled him back down, kissing him deeply as he leaned his weight onto his left elbow, allowing him to dig his right hand into her hair to anchor her close.

Their kiss was desperate and sloppy, but Steve was taken away by the moment, not needing to think as his muscle memory took over. She fit against him like a glove and Steve was struck by how badly he wanted to remember her. Remember making love to her and making a life with her, but in that moment Steve knew he'd fall in love with her anyway. Even if he never remembered their troubled past, he'd never leave the woman beneath him.

She moved one hand to his stomach, pressing against his abs as his breathing hitched, and he roughly grabbed her and rolled her over so she was hovering above him. She blinked rapidly, getting her bearings before grinning wickedly down at him as she leaned against her hand, resting her other palm on his muscular chest, "You are so lucky I'm pregnant."

"Because we can't have sex?" Steve pouted, unsure where the expression came from, but it must have been familiar enough because Kayla didn't seem fazed by it.

"I mean we could, but you aren't ready for what I want to do to you." She purred and Steve tossed his head back and groaned as she shifted, grinding herself against his stiffening cock, "Do you want to have sex?"

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for that." Steve admitted, turning deep red, "I don't know how."

"That's adorable, but a lie. I know you got handsy with Sandy Calloway behind the Cyclone at Cony Island. You were drunk. You said you don't remember much of it but Bucky swore it happened, even though she swore it didn't."

"You really are my wife." Steve reached up to run his thumb over her lips, "Put your hands on me, Kay."

Steve bent his knees, planting his bare feet into the bed as Kayla leaned against his legs. She traced her fingernails over his smooth chest to his abs, running along the muscles until she reached a deep V leading to his crotch. He reached up to cradle her jaw, and she grabbed his forearm with both of hers and leaned against him as he effortlessly held her up, "No wonder you love me."

The moment the words left his lips, Steve realized he'd made a mistake. Kayla huffed and pulled his arm away from her face easily before smacking his right knee hard to get him to lower it. "Kay, I didn't mean-"

"That I'm shallow? Cuz it kinda sounds like that's what you're saying. Which, alright, I'll give you that, you wake up a beefcake for no reason, when in reality you were an experiment to send off to war. Of course you'd think it's fun and that's why you have a hot wife and you're a superhero or something, but you wanna know why you're the way you are? Because they drafted Bucky and rejected you five times, so you were willing to be a lab rat so you could go die with your best friend."

Her words hit Steve like a slap in the face and he sat up as she tried to finagle her way off the bed. "So I went to war?"

"Yes. You went to war. You saw some shit. You did some shit. You're a human weapon." Kayla told him, dropping her head and massaging her brow bones, "And now so am I."

Steve grabbed Kayla's hips and she tried to squirm away, but he tugged her closer and wrapped her in a hug. He buried his face against her collarbone and she scratched his back comfortingly as he held her, "I'm sorry, I didn't know... I don't know what I'm supposed to do." His lips ghosted against her skin and she lifted his chin to look at her, "Why else would you want me?"

She furrowed her brows at that, but it seemed like the easiest question in the world for Steve. Physique aside, Steve had a difficult personality. He got in fights and he kept to himself. He often tried to avoid fun and he was an artist, not a soldier or a businessman, so he couldn't provide a good life for a family. He could barely provide for himself. Those were things being an experiment couldn't change, and it seemed easy for Steve to think this dame chose him for his looks instead of his personality.

"Steve, I love you."

"Yeah, you wouldn't have loved me before. The me I remember- you would have never given him a second look." Steve mumbled and Kayla threw her arms in the air and walked away, "You know it's true."

"No, I don't but I'll never have the chance to prove you wrong, so I guess it's as good as true, isn't it? Damn it Steve, you really are insufferable with the insecurity, and there's no reason for it because everybody loves you. You are perfect and when we got married people said I wasn't good enough for you. And now to hear you say I'm shallow, that I only like you for all," she gestured wildly to his broad chest and defined abs, "that- when you ripped off your clothes in an effort to seduce me. Your wife. The woman who already knows and loves every dark corner of your soul... You really don't have any clue what you're doing. Bucky said you were terrible with women and he was clearly right."

Steve stood and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head bitterly. She was right, he wanted her to want him because nobody had ever given him the time of day. He pushed too far; he was always pushing too far. "I'm sorry. I just wanted you to like me."

"You already got me, baby, this wasn't divine conception!" Kayla yelled and pointed to her stomach.

Steve pulled on his boots, pushing his hand through his hair and wincing when it hit the spot he'd been shot. It hurt less than earlier. In less than a day, he'd already started healing. "I'm sorry, I thought... I don't know what I thought, but I'm not ready for this. I'm sorry."

He bolted from the room, pushing against the sliding glass door until the lock cracked and flung it open, allowing him to get that run he wanted earlier. He ignored the way Kayla stared at him in shock. Steve just needed to get his head on straight alone.

Kayla leaned against the doorframe of the cracked sliding door, sighing as she watched Steve sprint full speed towards the lake before tripping and falling into the grass. She considered going to see if he was alright, but he bolted upright and brushed himself off before taking off running again without looking back.

She leaned her cheek against the sliding door until a soft knock echoed from the apartment door. "Come in, it's open!" She called without looking back, more focused on the super soldier learning to run again.

"How's he doing?" Tony called, and Kayla turned to see him looking around curiously before his gaze reached the door. "Where is he?"

"Running around like a newborn cow. Can't quite get his legs under him." She chuckled as Tony sidled up beside her. "He thinks I only married him for his looks."

Tony snorted, then cleared his throat when Kayla glared at him, "Well, obviously. He's a pain in the ass, why else would you marry him?"

"That's not funny." Kayla answered before waddling back into the kitchen. She hissed as she slowly sat into a chair, "He's Steve. He's special." When Tony silently sat across from her, she elaborated slowly, "He's kind, and he's patient. He's a gentleman, which I greatly appreciate because most of the men I was with before him weren't so chivalrous. He was my best friend. There's nobody else who I trust like him, because he makes me feel safe."

Tony and Kayla looked up in unison when Steve sprinted past, finally seeming to feel better in his own skin. Kayla sighed as she looked down at her stomach, "I shouldn't have gotten mad at him. I'm just really crabby, tired, and a little horny. And easily offended because I took him feeling confident for probably the first time in his memory very personally. I just really miss him, Tony."

Suddenly, Vision peeked his head in through the open door, looking around before settling his gaze on Tony and Kayla, "Mrs. Rogers, the King of Wakanda has arrived."

The woman bolted up so fast the room began to spin, and she had to reach out for Tony's arm to keep from crashing to the floor, "I'm fine! I'm coming!"

"Why is King T'Challa here?"

Kayla froze and turned to Tony, then glanced out the door, guessing Steve was across the lake by now since she couldn't see him, "He... they... they've had Barnes." At Tony's bitter expression, Kayla added, "They are trying to remove the Winter Soldier programming from his mind. You gotta know he didn't mean to hurt anybody. Especially your father."

Tony gritted his teeth together and groaned, "You think he can get through to Cap?"

"I think he can get through to Steve." Kayla amended, taking a long step towards the door before moaning a little as she grabbed her stomach, "He's the only living person Steve knows. If he doesn't regain his memory, Bucky is the key to getting him settled. This baby is gonna come any day, and they need their father, whether he remembers them or not."

"He's gonna remember. We're gonna do whatever it takes to help him remember his life with you. I swear." Tony promised. He slung his arm around Kayla's shoulder and led her back towards the common area of the compound to meet up with T'Challa and Bucky.

As soon as the door closed, Steve peeked his head around the sliding glass door to see the apartment empty. He tiptoed into the living room before sliding the door closed, realizing it no longer latched from him cracking it. He closed it the best he could and moved past it, trying to untangle what he'd heard Kayla say. Bucky had some sort of programming in his mind, and he'd hurt somebody. And he was here.

A little voice in the back of Steve's head told him to use his newfound strength to run away from this place as fast as his long, powerful legs could take him. He could hide out until he remembered everything he'd lost and forgotten, or until he found the courage inside himself to be the man everybody here expected him to be. Steve wandered into the bathroom to stare at his reflection, studying his sharp slope of his nose and and thick neck and blue eyes that were the only thing anchoring Steve to reality. Without the thick beard, he looked more like himself, but it was also a reminder of how different he'd become.

When he ran his hand over his short, choppy haircut though, his heart swelled. He hadn't meant to hurt Kayla's feelings. He hadn't meant to upset her and he shouldn't have run away, but his time with his wife created too much pent up energy buzzing through his body to ignore. While his mind fought to heal itself, Steve's body and soul knew Kayla was his home, and he had to find a way back into her good graces by any means necessary.