The winter sun fell in warm rays on Jane's outline in the duvet as she woke. She took a deep breath after a good night's sleep and blinked into the light. Dog poked his head out from under the covers and let go a long, high whistled jawn.
She'd had no trouble falling or staying asleep.
She brushed her teeth, put on her gym gear and took Dog downstairs for a short walk before heading to the gym. It was 6:30 am when she walked in on Steve beating the punching bag out of shape. By the looks of it, he'd been there for a while.
She walked toward him, and he paused, hearing her approach.
"Good morning." He said, out of breath.
"What? No Sunshine?" She teased.
He gave her a small grin before tearing into the punching bag again.
Something was wrong. He was never this dismissive of her.
She touched his shoulder and he stopped, giving his brow a quick wipe with the back of his hand. "Hey," she said, "what's wrong?"
He still hadn't looked at her and was quiet for a moment before he spoke.
"I remembered."
She put herself between him and the punching bag. Placing her hand gently under his jaw, she lifted his chin until his eyes met hers.
He didn't know how, but he felt better now that she was here. Looking into her eyes anchored him.
"How do you feel about letting me punch you in the jaw?" She said softly as she smiled at him.
The corner of his mouth twitched. "If you put it like that..." he replied.
She was stronger again, faster. She knew where he was going to be at times and her arsenal of attacks and defences kept getting bigger.
"You're holding back." She breathed before she attacked again. "I know how formidable a warrior you are," the words broken between ducks and punches.
"If you know then there's no point in me showing you." He breathed back.
She stopped, dropping her shoulders, biting her cheek at him. She looked like she was deliberating something before she nodded to herself, adjusted her wraps and ran at him. She executed a series of movements that she must have adapted and switched up because she was really laying into him. She landed three blows in one sequence. He took a step back, frowning at her:
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's been holding back."
She gave him the promise of a grin, before coming at him again and in a blinding flash of blows and dodges, they were on the ground, her knee on his chest, looking down at him.
Holy moly, he thought, raising his hands in mock surrender. She sat down next to him, out of breath and saw Nat standing in the doorway.
"That has got to be the first time Steve Rogers has ever surrendered," she said with a huge smile on her face.
Steve sat up, slightly offended by her intrusion, pulling at his white shirt clinging to his body. Jane rose to her feet.
"Come on Cinderella, time for a shower," quipped Nat.
Steve got up, a little disappointed that whatever just happened was over.
By 10:00 am Steve, Nat, Sam, Jane and Dog were all in Steve's apartment, having breakfast.
"Oh, you need to switch on your phone, Shuri said that someone named Henry? Harry? was looking for you." Nat remembered her earlier conversation with Shuri over the phone.
Her mouth full of scrambled eggs, Jane nodded and excused herself to go and get her phone.
"Do you know this Henry guy?" Nat asked Steve.
"Hendrik, and yeah." He looked sufficiently annoyed for Natasha to put two and two together.
"So he's the mock date." She said for Steve's benefit and he felt a smidgen better at her use of the word 'mock'.
Jane rejoined the party and frowned into the light coming from her phone screen. Nat walked around the table and looked over her shoulder.
"Wow, this guy takes needy texting to a whole new level." That made Steve and Sam get up and join her looking over Janes' shoulder. She was scrolling through screens of messages, all from him. She left all of them unopened, except for the latest one, which read:
'I'll be there to pick you up at 19:00. Can't wait ;) Please let me know that you got this text.'
Jane typed 'I've got your message' and put the phone on the table, returning to her breakfast.
Almost immediately, three consecutive messages popped up on the screen.
'Fantastic'
'See you tonight'
';)'
Steve didn't like this at all. His fists clenched as Nat half pushed him back to his seat.
She shot Sam a look that said; "we're going to have our hands full today."
It was 17:30 when Jane thumbed her phone in her pocket and had a thought. She pulled it out and held it up in front of her. She took a picture and sent it to Steve.
Steve's phone pinged and he touched Jane's name on the screen, opening the photo. He chuckled.
"What?" came Sam's voice from next to him on the couch. Steve showed him the picture and he laughed out loud "now there's somethin' you don't see every day."
Jane had taken a picture of the mirror in front of her, obscuring her face with the phone. Behind her, unhandily pulling at her hair, stood Okoye with a look on her face like she was gutting a fish. Shuri stood just behind her, pointing at her phone screen, clearly annoyed that Okoye wasn't following her precise instructions and in the back you could see Nat with her hand over her eyes, exacerbated.
Steve stepped out of the car at the party venue and buttoned his jacket. Sam and Nat stepped out of the other side and the three of them stood for a moment, taking in the building in front of them.
"Shall we?" Said Sam and he and Nat led the way inside.
The interior of the great hall where Nakia's party was set up, was unlike anything they'd ever seen. Plush with gold, marble and wood carvings of panthers and heart-shaped leaves. People were milling around just down the stairs that led into the main event area.
Steve handed his invitation to the security team. "No partner, Mr Rogers?" asked the burliest of them.
"No," he said, looking away.
"Very well. Have a lovely evening." said the man.
Steve nodded his thanks and joined Nat and Sam around one of the many standing tables.
On the other side of the hall, he could see Shuri and Okoye. They were here and he wondered what was keeping Hendrik and Jane.
The music stopped and everyone looked around as T'Challa and Nakia walked slowly down the solid wood staircase. When they reached the floor, a round of applause erupted from the guests.
Hendrik had picked Jane up at 19:00, just as he'd said. He was driving her to the venue, taking the longest way around, driving painfully slow.
"I am so happy to hear that Dog is doing well." He beamed at her.
"I've missed our sessions, even though it's not been that long. I wish the holidays were over already so we can get back at it!"
She smiled at him.
"You look lovely tonight my dear. Have I said that already?"
They made small talk for what felt to Jane was a very long time when after 45 minutes taking a 15-minute drive, they finally arrived at the venue.
She didn't wait for him to open the door for her, happy to be free of the confines of the car. She had only one thing on her mind and one place she wanted to be and his name was Steve Rogers.
Arriving at the top of the stairs to the main event area, Hendrik took Jane's hand and placed it on his arm. "There, that's how it should be." He handed security his invitation and they let them through.
They paused at the top of the staircase, taking in the grandeur of the room, and many a head turned to look at Jane. Her eyes searching for him in the crowd. Hendrik led her down the stairs slowly, basking in the attention he was drawing with Jane on his arm. They reached the floor and then she spotted him, standing halfway across the room. He had his back turned and was in conversation with someone, so he didn't see her.
Hendrik led Jane to a group of his friends not too far from where Steve, Nat and Sam was and introduced her to everyone like she belonged to him and she shot him a look, which he ignored.
Couples were swaying to the music in the centre of the room and champagne was being passed around from high silver platters. She watched all of it with intrigue.
"Would you like a drink my dear?" asked Hendrik.
"Yes, please." smiled Jane. As soon as he disappeared into the crowd, she started to make her way to where she'd seen Steve.
She was stopped by one of the young Dora's she'd trained with for a while and the two exchanged a few pleasantries.
Steve drained the last bit of champagne out of the glass and put it on the table, he looked around, crowd watching, and saw her.
She was talking to a young woman, facing in his direction when her eyes landed on his.
She knocked the breath out of him and there was no one else in the vast hall, except for the two of them.
"Hey Steve, do you want another drink?" asked Natasha.
He didn't hear or see her, he just kept staring and she looked around at what had caught his attention. Smiling when she saw Jane.
"Nevermind." She grinned to a still oblivious Steve.
Jane began walking towards him, his heart running harder with every step she took when Hendrik stepped in front of her, handing her a drink. It broke his connection with her eyes and the room was full of people again.
T'Challa made a speech along with Nakia's father and brother and Steve shot glances at Jane, feeling something ugly rear its head as Hendrik put his hand on her back.
After the speeches, the music grew louder and the dance floor filled with dancing partygoers.
Hendrik led Jane onto the dancefloor. "Wait," she said, "I don't know how to do this," not at all comfortable with what he was asking.
The song that was playing came to an end and another began to play.
Hendrik was pulling her towards him when Steve stuck his hand in between them.
"Mind if I cut in?" his face was hard as he looked at Hendrik. It wasn't a request. Hendrik was not impressed but stepped away, bowing out.
Steve turned to face her, taking her hand in his, putting his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
His eyes were burning as she looked up into them. "I don't know how to dance..." she said.
"Neither do I," he replied, and she smiled a shy smile.
Taking a quick glance around her, she saw the other women all had their hands on their partners' shoulders, some couples were cheek to cheek. Unsure of what to do, she put her hand on Steve's shoulder as they began to sway to the music.
"...Been travelling these wide roads for so long,
my heart's been far from you.
Ten thousand miles gone.
Oh, I wanna come near you and give you every part of me,
but there's blood on my hands and my lips are unclean..."
The words of the song drove into her heart, making it ache. He seemed to read what she was feeling because at that moment he pulled her closer and she was right up against him.
Steve was burning. He brought his face right up to her cheek, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. She lifted her chin like she wanted to nestle in his neck, but stopped just short, her closeness soaking warmth into his skin. She pulled him deep into her lungs and closed her eyes.
"...Dip me in your smooth waters, I go in as a man of many crimes.
Come up for air as my sins flow down the Jordan.
Take me to your river, I wanna go..."
He felt his arm tighten around her waist as he breathed her in, his head swimming, and resisted the urge to get completely lost, to shut out all the world. He was breaking the rules, dancing with her, but he didn't care.
"...Take me to your river, I wanna go..."
Her hand on his shoulder slid down to rest on his chest and he brought his hand holding hers in to rest over his heart. He wanted her to feel how wild it was beating, what she was doing to him.
"...Oh, I wanna come near you and give you every part of me,
but there's blood on my hands and my lips are unclean..."
Steve wished with all his heart that the song would last, for it to stretch on in time, but it was trailing off and the last notes began to fade.
"...Take me to your river, I wanna know..." **
She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. A strange feeling coming over her. Her eyes darted to his mouth and back to his eyes.
"Captain Rogers." Okoye was there. "This is not a good idea, we don't know who may be watching."
His jaw clenched. He didn't want to, but he gently let go of her, feeling cold where she'd been a moment before.
Hendrik was at her side in an instant.
He'd had enough. Enough of having to stay away from her. Enough of watching him fuss over her. He turned to find the others.
Nat and Sam weren't far away. "We're leaving," commanded Steve in his 'Captain' voice.
They understood that to be non-negotiable and followed him out.
The valet brought the car around. They drove back to the apartment in silence.
** River - Leon Bridges