Freya is having another nightmare.

Ever since 2012, she frequently gets the same couple recurring ones. But these have nothing to do with the Battle of New York. No, they had started at random. There's no correlation with any of the events that have happened over the recent years.

Tonight's nightmare has Steve in it again. Over and over, she sees him bruised and broken. Falling from hundreds of feet up in the air into the water below. What is he falling from? She doesn't know. What is he falling into? She doesn't know that either. Why is he beaten up so badl- wait, are those gunshot wounds??? Again, she has no fucking clue. But yet, that's all she sees. Helpless, she watches him sink down into the water until he's swallowed up by the darkness below the surface.

Gasping, she sits up in bed. She closes her eyes for a moment and tries to steady her breathing. Looking over at the clock next to her bed, it reads 4:37. She quietly groans. It looks like she's going to be up for the rest of the day. Ever since she got back to DC, the nightmares started. At first, they were few and far between. Though, they eventually got increasingly worse as the months went on. Making it hard to get a good night's sleep anymore.

Pulling herself out of bed, she stands and stretches as she listens to her joints crack. Snagging her cellphone off the nightstand and taking it with her, she quietly opens her door and tip-toes her way to the kitchen to get some water. Her bare feet making no sound as she pads down the hall. Walking into the kitchen, she tosses her phone on the bar and grabs a water bottle out of the fridge. Opening it, she takes a long drink as she walks around the bar to the chairs. Due to her height, she has to hop up into one of the stools.

She leans back in the chair as she swivels it back and forth. The edge of the back making small thumps as it bumps into the counter. Glancing to the edge of the counter, she sees their movie tickets from the other night. She smiles as she thinks about their fun evening of "best friend time". She begins to frown as she thinks about what had happened in her room before they left. Winter had shown up. After three long years, he's back. And he isn't himself, again. Her heart aches for him. Wishing there's something she can do. His target is Steve and that honest to God terrifies her. Why Steve? Why now? She knows she'll have to be extra vigilant from now on and always keep an eye on the Captain. Freya smiles to herself when Steve mentally reaches out to her.

"Doll, is that you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, it's me. Just grabbing some water. Go back to sleep."

She can literally hear him mentally sigh.

"You know I can't."

"I didn't wake you again, did I?"

Silence.

"I'm sorry, Steve..."

She sighs and frowns knowing she had been the one to wake him up. He quickly replies back to her when he feels her frustration toward herself.

"No, no, it's okay, Frey. I wake you up sometimes too."

Over the last two years, their bond has grown so strong that they've developed a telepathic link. It isn't to the point where they're seeing each other's nightmares though. The link makes it to where they can actually feel when the other is in distress or is upset. They can somehow feel or sense each other's emotions. It had started about a year after they had moved in together. They had inadvertently started waking each other up when their nightmares would strike. They know they have no control over it, but that doesn't mean they don't feel bad about it. Because of the link, Steve is also able to somehow communicate with Freya without having to concentrate and direct his thoughts like he originally had to when they first met. It's now just as simple as having a conversation with each other. They're just doing it telepathically. It's kind of like he had gained powers too, but they only work with her. It confuses the hell out of them, but they roll with it and enjoy the connection they share.

"You just gonna stay in bed?"

"My bed is so warm, though..."

His pouty tone makes her chuckle. She can practically see him snuggling further into his bed. She rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically.

"I guess I'll just sit out here all by myself..."

"Be right there."

She grins at his response and almost instantly hears his bare feet padding down the hall behind her. Seconds later, an arm wraps around her shoulders and a quick kiss is pressed to the side of her head. He gently tugs the water bottle from her hands at the same time.

"Well, hello to you too, Spangles," she chuckles.

"Good morning, Doll," he grins down at her, his voice still heavy with sleep. She watches him as he stands next to her and drinks. Noticing the dark circles under his eyes. She knows he's had trouble sleeping ever since he came out of the ice. Memories from the war haunt him relentlessly. Glancing down, he notices the look on her face that she's attempting to hide. Concerned for her, he sets the water bottle on the counter and turns to her. "You wanna talk about it?" he asks.

"It's always the same couple of nightmares," she replies after a few moments of silence. "No new ones. The same two just cycle through," she shrugs.

"Which one was it tonight?" he inquires gently.

"The one with you," she says with a deep sigh. He watches her worriedly as she runs a hand through her hair. "But if it's not that one..." she says quietly before her voice trails off.

"It's the robot," he finishes for her.

"The one with the red eyes," she nods as she clears her throat.

Hopping down from the stool, she walks around Steve. She steps up to the kitchen counter and leans against it. He walks around behind her and wraps his arms around her shoulders before resting his chin on her head.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," he soothes her. She turns around in his arms and tilts her head back to look up at him.

"How do you know that, though?"

"Because..." he begins with a gentle smile. He brings a hand up and places it on the side of her face. His thumb softly strokes her cheek. She closes her eyes with a hum of content and leans into it. "We've already been through a lot together. I know we can get through whatever comes our way," he tells her confidently. "We have each other. We'll face whatever happens together."

She smiles at his comfort, her eyes still closed. Suddenly, she can feel the air shift. It's quick, but it's definitely noticeable. Opening her eyes, she looks up at Steve and sees an expression on his face she's never seen before. His blue eyes are dark and he seems to be searching for something in her green ones. He averts them down to her lips. Her heart skips as she watches him. Her own eyes quickly glance down to his lips, too. Looking back up to meet his eyes, his are now on hers again as he tries to read her. He glances down at her lips again before meeting her eyes once more.

She stops breathing when he slowly starts to lean down. Her stomach is in knots with anticipation. It's almost painful, the speed that he's moving at. It's like he's afraid she'll bolt if he moves too fast. Steve shifts forward slightly and brings their bodies almost flush as he leans down further. He pauses and lets his lips ghost over hers. His eyes lock with Freya's one last time before he finally closes the gap and gently placing his lips on hers.

Freya's stomach erupts into thousands of fireworks. Actually, fuck fireworks. It's like an entire zoo has been set loose. She finally releases the breath she had been holding and melts into the kiss as their lips move together perfectly. Steve sighs, all of his nerve endings on fire. He's never felt anything like this before. Not even when he had kissed Peggy.

He slowly pulls away and studies her as he attempts to gauge her response. She slowly opens her eyes and stares back at Steve. At a complete loss for words. Both of them watch each other in silence with their faces inches apart. Without warning, he leans in again, but quicker this time. He connects their lips once more. It takes Freya by surprise, but her body instantly molds against his in response. Her hands slowly slide over his chest up to his hair where she threads her fingers in it. The kiss is still sweet, but this one has more hunger behind it. As Steve starts to deepen the kiss, Freya's phone begins to ring on the counter behind her.

They both jump away from each other in panic, their hearts racing. They stare at each other briefly before awkwardly breaking eye contact. Steve turns away and walks into the living room while he runs a hand down his face. Freya sighs and turns around to grab her phone. When she sees her dad's name on the caller ID, she instantly thinks something's wrong due to the early hour he's calling her at. She quickly answers it even though her voice is slightly shaky from the kiss.

"Hey, Dad, what's wrong?" she asks.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Tony greets her excitedly. "Nothing's wrong. What, I can't call my daughter and see how she's doing?"

"Well seeing as how it's..." She checks the time and lets out a long sigh. "4:52 in the morning, you can't blame me for thinking something's wrong when you call me at such an ungodly hour."

"Touché," he chuckles.

"Seriously, what's wrong, Dad?" she asks as walks out of the kitchen and into the hallway. She stops and leans on the wall.

"It's nothing, Merky," Tony sighs. "I just wanted to hear your voice. I shouldn't have called so early, I'm sorry."

"Dad..." she warns when he avoids answering her question.

"No, no, you're r-"

"You're still having trouble sleeping, aren't you?" she interrupts him.

"Can you tell that easily?" he asks, clearly surprised by her correct assessment.

"Well, when you have the same problem, it's pretty easy to recognize it in other people," she chuckles.

"You're having trouble sleeping, too?" he asks with a tone of worry now.

"It's nothing, I'm just stressed. You know know how I get, Dad," she answers quickly.

"Of course I do," he laughs. "Because you get it from me."

"Yeah, no kidding," she snorts and turns to face the living room. She sees Steve watching her intently while he slowly paces. "I should probably go," she tells her dad. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay..." Tony sighs. "Oh, hey, wait! How's Captain Spangles doin'? He treatin' you good?"

"Oh, uh, he's good. And, uh, yeah... He's treating me perfectly fine. He's a complete gentleman," she says awkwardly as a blush starts to form on her face. "He, uh, says 'hi.'"

Immediately realizing her mistake, she smacks her free hand to her forehead as her face scrunches up. She can see Steve's eyes go wide from across the room when he stops pacing. Tony has no idea they had started living together when Steve moved to DC.

"Oh? He's with you right now?" Tony asks in confusion.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah," Freya stutters out. "We're in my kitchen right now about head out for a jog."

Steve wildly gestures at her as if to ask what the fuck she's doing. He of all people doesn't want the wrath of Iron Man coming down on him. She frantically shakes her head at him and throws her free hand up in the air. She briefly waves it around before bringing it back down to rest on the top of her head. Her teeth gnaw at her lower lip in borderline panic.

"You guys are up pretty early, aren't you?" Tony questions her suspiciously.

"W-Well, we're just early risers I guess! Gotta go! Love you, Dad!"

"Oh, all right. Love you too, Merky."

Freya quickly ends the call as she closes her eyes and lets out a huge sigh. Before she opens them, she hears Steve's voice from across the room.

"'He says 'hi''? Really, Doll?" he asks. Her eyes snap open to find him looking at her in amusement.

"It was word vomit!" she jokingly pouts. Her adorable expression makes him throw his head back and laugh.

"I guess we're going for a jog now too, huh?" he raises an eyebrow in question.

She doesn't say anything. All she does is tap her nose to signal he's right before heading to her room to get ready. It's still a bit dark outside when they make it out to the National Mall. The early morning sky is barely beginning to turn colors. Both still feeling awkward from the kiss, they decide to run in silence and focus on keeping pace with each other. Since he's a super soldier, Steve is able to run at a ridiculous pace for a very long time. Luckily, Freya can too. Due to the fact that she's a demigoddess, who's also Frost Giant, Kree and whatever else her mom is, she can easily keep up with him.

They run their normal path as they pass the monuments. Eventually passing another jogger. It's a dark-skinned man who's running at a respectable pace for a normal person. They've seen him out running a few times. When the two blondes pass him the first time, they split. Steve goes left while Freya goes right. She opts to stay silent as they run by him. Steve on the other hand, who's being fueled by his good mood after the early morning events, feels like being obnoxious.

"On your left," Steve announces as they sprint by him.

The man doesn't acknowledge them and stays silent. When they start to come up on him the second time, they split again as they pass him.

"On your left," Steve announces again. Freya can't only hear the amusement in his voice, but she also feels it through their link.

"Uh-huh. On my left. Got it," the man finally acknowledges them.

Freya chuckles knowing the poor man is beginning to get annoyed. As the pair comes up on the stranger a third time, he tries to pick up his pace. The man begins to talk to them over his shoulder before they even get to him.

"Don't say it. Don't you say it," he warns.

"On your left," Steve mutters as they pass him again.

"Come on!" the man shouts after them.

Freya laughs in response and slows her pace. Steve looks over his shoulder at her in nonverbal question.

"Everything okay?"

She grins and nods her head as she comes to a stop.

"I feel bad for the poor guy. I'm gonna keep him company until you're done."

Steve grins and gives her a nod in return before resuming his run. When she turns around, the man had finally noticed she had stopped and is now watching her curiously.

"Sorry about that," she says with a friendly smile while she approaches him. "He's a bit of a show-off sometimes."

"Oh, really? I couldn't tell," he playfully rolls his eyes. "I'm just glad you weren't saying 'On your right,'" he chuckles before sticking a hand out to her. She grins and returns the handshake as he introduces himself. "Sam Wilson."

"Freya Stark."

His eyebrows shoot up in realization. After New York, pictures and videos of her fighting and using her powers had quickly circulated throughout the internet. Now her secret identity isn't much of a secret anymore.

"Ah, I thought I recognized you," he says. She just smiles and nods. He looks over his shoulder and gestures at a large oak tree. "You don't mind if my human self pops a squat and rests, do you?"

"Not at all," she chuckles.

When they make their way over to the nearby tree, Sam collapses underneath it, still breathing heavily. Freya opts to stand while she watches him, visibly amused.

"Hey, don't give me that look," he glares up at her playfully when he sees her expression.

"Hey, no look here," she grins and throws up her hands innocently.

"So," he laughs while attempting to stretch his legs. "If you're you. Then he's..."

"Yes, that would be him," Freya confirms. She laughs when his eyes slightly widen.

"Huh, figures," he mumbles "How do you put up with him?"

"With an enormous amount of patience," she snorts.

"Is that all it is?" he asks with a smirk. She squints her eyes and tilts her head in confusion. The said super soldier approaches them and unknowingly changes the topic.

"Need a medic?" Steve asks as he stops next to Freya and looks down at Sam with a small grin.

"I need a new set of lungs," Sam chuckles. "Dude... You two just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"I guess we got a late start," Steve smiles shyly as he puts his hands on his hips and looks down at Freya. She shoots him a shy smile in return before quickly training her eyes on Sam again when she feels her face heat up. She bites her lower lip as she tries to prevent herself from becoming flustered.

"Really?" Sam asks Freya in disbelief. She just shrugs in response and releases her lip from her teeth's torture when she starts to taste blood. He chuckles and looks back at Steve. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He looks at Freya again and winks before turning back to Steve. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"What unit you with?" Steve asks. His demeanor now serious after noticing the logo on Sam's shirt.

"58th pararescue," Sam answers. "But now I'm workin down at the VA." He reaches his hand up and motions for Steve to help him up. "Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers," Steve nods as he helps Sam to his feet.

"Yeah, I kinda put that together after meeting Ms. Mercury over here," Sam jerks a thumb at Freya, who's now grinning. She's enjoying the exchange between the two men and can easily see them becoming best friends. "Must've freaked you out, comin' home after the whole defrostin' thing," Sam addresses Steve.

"It takes some gettin' used to," Steve sighs. Freya can feel his slight annoyance through their link at the mention of him being in the ice. He plays it off and scoots over to put an arm around her shoulders. He starts to lead her away as he nods at the other man. "It's good to meet you, Sam," Steve says as a goodbye. Freya gives Sam a polite smile and starts to walk away with Steve.

"It's your bed, right?" Sam calls out to Steve. Freya can feel Steve freeze before turning around to look at Sam again.

"What's that?" Steve asks as his arm falls away from her shoulders.

"Your bed, it's too soft," Sam elaborates. "When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lyin' in my bed and it's like..."

"Lyin' on a marshmallow," Steve continues in understanding. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."

Freya's eyes go back and forth between the two men. She watches them talk while a small smile sits on her face. Glad there's someone Steve can relate to.

"How long?" Steve asks.

"Two tours," Sam nods. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad," Steve sighs and looks around. "Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. Been readin' that a lot tryin' to catch up. Plus, this one here has been my rock." He looks down at Freya with a fond smile on his face. "I don't know what I'd do or where I'd be without her."

"I'm sure you would be just fine, Rogers," she waves him off as she attempts to hide her blush.

"No, I highly doubt that, Stark," Steve grins at her. A knowing smirk forms on Sam's face while he watches the exchange between the two Avengers.

"Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man Soundtrack. Everything you missed jammed into one album," Sam suggests to Steve.

"You and I need to swap playlists, my friend," Freya raises her eyebrows, impressed by his taste in music. She reaches out to him for a fist bump. Sam laughs and nods in agreement as he returns it. Steve takes out the small notebook Freya had given him to help him keep track of things he still needs to catch up on.

"I'll put it on the list," he says as he scribbles it down under Rocky.

Both agents suddenly get a text at the same time. Pulling out their phones, they see that it's from a certain redhead.

-MISSION ALERT.

EXTRACTION IMMINENT.

MEET AT THE CURB. :)

"All right, Sam. Duty calls," Freya tells him as she shakes his hand.

"Thanks for the run," Steve reaches out and shakes his hand as well. "If that's what you wanna call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam grins at him.

"Oh, that's how it is," Steve laughs as he playfully mocks him.

"Okay," Sam laughs before smirking at Freya. "Try to keep him in line."

"No promises," she laughs.

"Anytime you two wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know," Sam calls out to them as they walk away. Steve glances at Freya, who shrugs and nods.

"We'll keep it in mind," Steve nods back at they other man. As they walk to the curb, Natasha pulls up to it.

"Aw, man, I hate the back seat in that thing," Freya groans when she sees the car. "It's so claustrophobic."

"Better you than me," Steve grins.

"'Better you than me,'" she mocks him in a high-pitched voice.

"Now who's Captain Whiny Pants?" he teases her. She attempts to suppress a grin and gives him a playful shove.

"Hey, guys," Natasha calls out to them after rolling down the passenger window. "Anyone know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil and an alien artifact."

"Hilarious," Steve replies with an eye roll while Freya chuckles.

Steve pulls the passenger seat forward for Freya so she can hop into the back seat. He tickles her sides when she starts to climb in. This causes her to let out a loud squeal and dive into the back. Steve throws his head back with a loud laugh while his right hand comes up to his chest and clutches it in amusement. He continues to laugh when he climbs into the car and sends her a cheeky grin. Freya shoots him a playful glare before grinning at Natasha.

"Hey, Red," she greets her sister.

"Hey, Merc," Natasha smirks at her through the rear view mirror. "You know, the color red is starting to look like it might be in your future."

Freya's eyes go wide in response. Glancing at Steve, she makes sure he isn't looking before quickly leaning forward and flicking Natasha in the ear. She retreats back into her seat before the redhead can retaliate.

"Ow!" Natasha yells. "Freya, you little sh-"

Steve looks over at Natasha and gives her a warning look before she can finish the sentence. Freya covers her mouth and tries not to laugh. Sam had walked up next to the car and is now kneeling down as he tries to hit on Natasha.

"How you doin'?" he nods at her.

"Hey," the redhead simply responds after composing herself.

"We can't run everywhere," Steve smirks with a shrug.

"No, you can't," Sam chuckles.

Freya quickly sticks her arm through the two seats. She waves at Sam manically and basically screams at him from the back seat.

"Bye, Sam!!!"

Sam lets out a laugh as her wave turns into the signature Stark peace sign. He stands and watches the car peel out and disappear into traffic.