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On with chapter 10. Enjoy :)
Chapter 10
Dawn brought Sharon something else rather than nightmares for the first time in months. Instead of waking up drenched in sweat and gasping for breath at the memory of waterboarding, the first feeling she had upon waking up was that of being incredibly comfortable and protected. She felt… safe – probably part of the reason why she'd slept so well – and when she realized it was Steve hugging her close to his body, everything that happened the day before came rushing back.
Sharon took the opportunity to watch him sleep. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done that; except the other time she'd simply watched a video of him in a coma while they set up a fake room to make it look like it was 1945. His face was relaxed, and she could really notice the shape of his mouth and eyes. It was quite personal to see Steve this up and close in his most vulnerable state, yet it didn't feel like an invasion of privacy. They'd shared so much last night; they were that comfortable around each other.
It didn't take more than a few minutes for Steve to stir as well, having sensed Sharon moving. He woke up and smiled sleepily. "I could get used to this," he said.
"Damn right," she replied, leaning her head and kissing him lazily.
It was one of those scenes from movies that Sharon had always envied. The sunlight streaming into the room, two people in love (or seriously attracted to each other in this case) messing around in bed early in the morning… except in those movies, it didn't end up with the guy leaping from the bed after five minutes and murmuring a quick "I'll see you downstairs in ten".
"What?" she asked, sure she'd probably misheard him.
Steve put on a shirt with lightning-fast efficiency. "The mission was simple, and we took the day off yesterday. Time to get back into shape."
Sharon scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And here I thought we'd stay in bed the whole day."
"As much as I'd love to," – his eyes swept over her with no hurry this time, "we've got work to do. And I need to check on Buck."
"You're right. There's probably another mission waiting for us anyway," she motioned to walk past him on her way to the bathroom, but he stopped her with a hand on her waist and pulled her close. She had to admit it was dangerous territory – her with only a t-shirt and panties, him with a shirt and boxers – but boy did it feel feel amazing. They never felt close enough to each other. Steve picked her up effortlessly and sat her on the short dresser that stood between the bed and the wall. She wrapped her legs around him – that was turning into her favorite place to be – and it was even more difficult than last night to stop. Not because they didn't feel like continuing, but because of training. If the heat between her legs and Steve's hard body pressing against her was any indication, they totally felt like going forward.
She untangled herself from him, and he groaned, pressing his forehead to her shoulder. "Forget training, it was a horrible idea."
"Oh no, it was a great idea," she jumped from the dresser and got into shower while he finished getting dressed. "I'll see you downstairs."
Sharon had to admit the teasing was particularly fun when they both were holding back. She didn't know how long it'd take for them to go forward, but she was enjoying every second of the ride. After all, two could play a game. She took a hot shower taking her time and imagining how it'd feel if Steve was there with her – it'd be a great way to start the day.
Getting dressed and heading downstairs to the training room, she could hear sounds of fighting as soon as she got close to the door. Sam and Steve were going at it in the mat, circling each other and breathing heavily. Sam jumped up and down a few times. "That was a good move you got there, Cap. Feel like teaching me?"
"After we finish this." Steve advanced on Sam, dodged a quick jab, and tried to grab his arm. Sam rotated his body, lifting his leg to aim a roundhouse kick to Steve's head. Steve crouched down, rolled to the other side, and to Sam's surprise, kicked him straight in the gut when the Falcon rushed at him due to his vulnerable position.
Sam flinched, working on a combination of jabs and hooks, and managed to land a left hit to Steve's face. But Sam was paying more attention to his upper body than his legs, and when Steve noticed it, it was a matter of time until it was over.
Steve offered his hand to Sam when he was swept off his feet. "Don't ever underestimate your opponent."
"I don't, that's the problem." Sam sounded more surprise than upset.
"Just because you landed a hit doesn't mean you've won. I could've gotten up much faster, but since I took my time you thought I was vulnerable."
Sharon was always appreciative of those comments. Despite not having as much training as other avengers like Nat had, Steve was excellent at teaching, and could offer insight into other people's performance in a way no one else could. Sam could do just well with the little training he had, in Sharon's opinion, but he'd come a long way in those months, being trained by Steve himself. It was getting harder and harder to beat him.
Steve raised his eyes to where she was standing close to the door. "Hey," he called out.
"Where's Wanda?" she asked.
"Sleeping it off. She was kinda tired after using her powers," Sam said, turning his head to look at her. "You don't look so tired yourself."
"I'm not, so…feel like sparring?"
"Actually," Steve interrupted Sam before he could get a word out, "I was thinking you could practice with me. It's been a while we've trained."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but when Sam looked at her knowingly, she couldn't help by roll her eyes and laugh. "Drop it, Wilson, or I'll kick your ass next."
"Sorry, sorry," he raised his hands in defeat, laughing. "I'm just having so much fun. But you kids go ahead, I'll stand by and watch if you don't mind."
He got out of the mat and Sharon took his place, rolling her shoulders loose and stretching her neck from side to side. Steve just waited for her, watching every move. She could see Sam observing the whole thing but couldn't care less. This should be interesting, she thought. She concentrated on Steve's stance and stopped thinking about taking his shirt off.
And then they danced.
Sharon had never been overly modest, and she knew she was a great fighter. Having worked in both S.H.I.E.L.D and CIA, she'd received extensive training on martial arts, and out of all the Avengers, she was just behind Natasha, who was on a whole other level. But when it came down to hand-to-hand combat, in addition to being an amazing shooter, she could handle herself just fine. I mean, she had taken out a whole squad of CIA agents sent to capture her singlehandedly.
So, in comparison to Steve, she'd received much more official training, but his serum and the combined strength and speed it gave him turned him into a fantastic fighter. The best she'd ever seen. Sharon could match his moves, but couldn't move as fast as he did, and she didn't have the strength to jump as high or come back from a defensive move as quickly. It wasn't a surprise that she was struggling – a lot – after a few minutes, even if he was holding back his punches, but it was a surprise how much her body was responding to being this close to him.
Steve's movements were fluid and he moved with a speed that was matched only by Bucky himself. Sharon felt every punch down to her bones, and her arms were burning from the effort of blocking them. After a few kicks that left her right arm on fire, she decided to go through a different route. When fighting a stronger opponent, women usually got the upper hand by being faster and tiring the guy out.
She tried doing that, as she always did with him and Sam, but the reason this strategy worked with regular human hostiles was that the person usually was slower and heavier than Sharon. Despite being heavier, Steve was still much faster, and so, when she started dodging his moves and noticed what she was trying to do, he changed tactics as well and started predicting how she'd move away.
After dodging a jump and kick he aimed at her stomach by leaning backwards and retreating a couple of steps, she advanced on him with a turning right kick, and when he grabbed her leg, used it as leverage to swing another kick at his face. But he was expecting that move and pushed back her left foot down before it connected to his cheek. The motion destabilized Sharon, and she fell backwards. Steve fell along with her, still holding her leg to his left side, and used his forearm to press against her neck when they hit the ground.
That meant he ended up on top of her, holding her leg up with one hand and pressing down on her torso, his face extremely close to hers. Time stopped for a second, and Sharon's heartbeat felt like it was going to burst out of her chest at the mix of adrenaline from the fight and, well, from its conclusion.
Steve slowly released her leg and sat back on his heels, extending a hand. She took it gratefully. "That took longer than usual," he commented.
A sound like a cough came from the side-lines. "That's what she said," Sam muttered under his breath.
Sharon shook her head. "I'm not sure how to handle you in the mat. You're much stronger than me, and faster. Tiring you out isn't working."
"It's not supposed to – I'm not a regular hostile. Getting used to fighting someone better will make sure you handle anyone in the field. And if you do engage another super soldier, at least you'll know what to expect."
"Yeah, getting my ass kicked," she noted, laughing it off and standing up. Sharon wasn't particularly surprised at the outcome – she always lost to Steve – but it felt amazing to hold her own against him even for a few minutes.
They talked a bit more about the sparring session and Sam gave tips to both – well, to Sharon, mostly. He'd noticed she wasn't pacing herself correctly and was following one complex move after the other. For a guy like Steve that wasn't a problem, but for them it surely was. Sharon was thanking him when Shuri called and asked them to go upstairs and turn on all the tech. She had something to show them.
It was news footage of a protest in New York and Seattle against the Sokovia Accords. They stood silent in their living room – Wanda in her pajamas – as a huge crowd screamed in the streets to give the Avengers back their freedom. "Where is this coming from?" Steve asked, bewildered. Only a couple months ago the public's reaction had been the exact opposite.
"They're not happy the UN's restricting the Avengers' so much. In the past month there's been five incidents they requested to intervene but couldn't. Someone leaked those documents to the public and people weren't happy. More than 300 civilians died because of that."
"What sort of incidents were those?" Wanda stirred her hot chocolate and took a sip.
A bunch of newspaper articles and footage came up on the screen. "Forest fires that ended up spreading, armed conflict between gangs or mobs, gun dealings gone wrong…"
Steve shook his head. "Things the UN didn't believe were worth all the bureaucracy, or that harmed a member involved in illegal dealings."
"You're correct, Captain." Shuri went back to the protests. "Of course, the public doesn't know it. They just think the government's holding the Avengers back for no reason other than bureaucracy."
"Regardless of the reason," Steve continued, "Fury started the Avengers to protect the innocent when no one else could or would. I still hold myself responsible for that vow. If you're willing to help me," he looked around at the others, his eyes resting on Sharon. "I suggest we do the job the Sokovia Accords won't let the Avengers do."
Wanda stopped stirring. "Saving the world in secret?"
"We'd be hanging a target on our backs," Sharon murmured. "They'll realize we're going everywhere they don't let the Avengers go. They'll make a trap at some point."
"Only if the Avengers spoil the beans to the UN. If they don't make a request to act, we'd be only interfering in events that threaten civilians. That could be anywhere in the world." Sam crossed his arms and leaned against the armchair.
"But then, if they don't make any request, it would be suspicious."
Sharon hated being the Devil's advocate, but the proposal was actually a lot more problematic than Steve let on. They'd act as vigilantes while on the run from all the intelligence agencies in the US and Europe, and it would be easy for them to fall into a trap while doing that. Despite having Shuri's technology, it'd be an extremely dangerous job. She was willing to take it anyway, but not before everyone was aware of what it meant.
"Shuri, is there any way of telling the chances of the UN approving a request, and giving a heads up to the Avengers to not make it if the result's negative?"
"Hm… I could work on an algorithm to do that, but it'll take some hours. Great idea, Captain. I could keep it running and when it comes up with something, I could send an anonymous encrypted message to Mr. Stark before he sends the request. But we'd have to trust him that he won't sell us out."
Steve paced in the living room, deep in thought. After a few seconds, he released his breath. "We'll have to trust him to do what's right, for once. In the meantime, Shuri, please let us posted on anything that might need us, even if not related to the Avengers."
"Will do, Captain."
The sound of Shuri's call ending was immediately followed by Wanda's voice. "We should do it," she said quietly, looking at her mug. "Even if it's dangerous. I don't want to be here forever, Steve, living with my powers but not doing anything with them." She looked up at him. "I can't."
"You won't," he assured her.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm sick of standing still, too" Sam said, sitting on the sofa. "They'll have won if we allow them to decide when the world needs to be saved. I'd rather follow you anywhere than go to a single mission with those guys."
Steve nodded in gratitude and looked at Sharon. "What about you?"
This was different from everything she'd ever done, and in a lot of ways, it was like jumping off a cliff, with nothing to hold her back. Steve's gaze on her, however, made her feel like she wouldn't be doing it alone.
"I'm in."