Back with another short chapter. This was mainly inspired by Ghosts That We Knew, by DaughterOfPosideon333. Great story.
So this is my spin on it. Again, a little boring, but the battle begins next chapter :). Enjoy!
Steve should've been used to waking up to screaming by now, but it was usually his own. Memories of the ice, slowly encroaching on him, even for the few days he was out there. Ruined his idea of winter forever.
But no. This time, he woke up to a different cry, one that was not his own. In an instant, his eyes were wide open and alert. The cry was coming from the bedroom, or was, until it abruptly stopped.
Steve got up from the couch silently and peeked his head in the bedroom. There he saw Natasha, sitting upright in the bed, her forehead sheened with sweat, shaking slightly. She was him at the door and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath to steady herself.
"You-" he started to say.
"If you ask if I'm okay, I will slap you from here. Do I look okay?" Natasha asked defensively.
Steve put his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "Okay, then what's wrong?"
Natasha lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.
"Nightmares?" he asked. She shook her head a little bit. This particular movement hurt her the most. Admitting she was plagued by the past. That she may regret some of the hundreds of people she killed. That she may wish to erase their pleading faces from memory—
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You're an assassin. I've got nightmares too," Steve said quietly, hoping to find some even ground. He moved towards the bed and sat on its edge, a few feet away from Natasha.
"I doubt my nightmares are as bad as yours, but everybody gets them. Just some people more than others."
"What are yours about?" Natasha asked.
Steve paused for a moment before answering. "Mainly just the ice. If Howard hadn't found me, I have no idea how long I would've been down there. I could've still been down there. It was just so cold and lonely. And scary," Steve replied.
"The great Captain America, scared?" Natasha said almost mockingly. But she wished she could take it back. There was no reason to be mocking a perfectly explainable fear. "That's not the whole truth, is it?"
Steve looked up at her. "Bucky's there too. Ever since I saw him again, I just keep having these flashbacks from the past. How on the train. I was so close to him. If I had just reached a little farther a little faster…"
"Nobody blames you for his 'death'," Natasha said. "I read the file. You did everything you could."
"And yet that still wasn't enough," Steve said hollowly.
"You're still not telling me everything," Natasha prodded.
"It's more than you've told me," Steve snapped. Natasha recoiled, and, seeing the hurt in her eyes, Steve said, "sorry. This is just hard to talk about when you're the only person talking." This was true, but also, he couldn't tell her for some reason that he knew her from his past. From a vision from when he was frozen, telling him to choose his future. That just seemed like too much for him to say to someone he barely knew.
"I'm an assassin, like you said," Natasha started quietly, bringing her knees up to her chest. "I've killed a lot of people that…now that I think back on it…maybe didn't deserve to die. Before Barton found me, I was much worse. But he saved me and brought me back to S.H.I.E.L.D. The least I can do is to make is choice worthwhile," she finished.
"I'm sure he's proud," Steve replied.
"No one much know what I'm going through. I have to face it alone."
"No, you don't. We all need help with some things. Everyone's afraid of something," Steve said.
Natasha nodded and lie back in bed. "Steve?"
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Would it be too much to ask you to stay in the room of a stranger for the night?" she gave a small smile.
Steve returned her smile and sat in a chair in the corner of the room, watching as Natasha slow drifted off to sleep.
What did this say about him? Would he do this for anyone else, or just for some woman that he remembered from years ago?
Again, his mind was toying with him, not letting him sleep, thoughts of everything drifting around his head. So he just sat there in the chair and tried to prepare the best he could for the battle ahead.
As always, thanks for reading! Reviews are much appreciated and a new chapter should be up in a few days.