Steve's eyes blinked open as he came out of deep, dreamless sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept that well. The warm light of morning brought with it the memory of the night, and he grinned as he looked down at her in his arms. His mind couldn't decide which remembered moment to focus on and he found the images flashing in his mind's eye rekindle a fire he thought he'd sated. He could still feel her mouth explore his body and her fingers knot in his hair.
He languished in his memories for a good thirty minutes before she stirred. She let out a deep breath and stretched. Her muscles were pleasantly achy. She turned her head up and smiled at him.
"Good-mornin' Sunshine," he grinned.
She pulled herself up, pushing him onto his back and lay on top of him. The hunger in his eyes was drawing her ever closer until she was kissing him. Steve's mind went crazy as she reconciled reality with what he'd been daydreaming about and he ran his fingers up her back. Her hair fell in a dark curtain on one side of his face, and he revelled in the warm softness, full of her. His arms wrapped around her and he held her tight, his fingers knotting in her hair. He assumed command and flipped them over, so he was on top. He paused and broke the kiss to look at her.
"Hi," she grinned.
Steve knew that this girl would be the death of him. She was nestled in his heart and kept it warm, making it want to run away with her ever so often. The universe ebbed and flowed in her eyes, and he grinned back at her, a happy man.
He gently ran his thumb over the softness of her lower lip, and she opened her mouth slightly as her eyes closed, already melting under his touch. He was burning, like a meteor tearing through the atmosphere and the sure trajectory of his fall focussed his mind on the desire to be the reason she came undone.
When Steve woke for the second time that morning, it was with a start at the knock on the door.
"Room service!" Came a muffled female voice.
Jane was woken by it too, and she watched as Steve threw a white bathrobe around himself as he strode to the door.
"Good morning," he greeted the woman on the other side of the door. "I'll take it from here. Thank you."
She watched as he put the tray down on the coffee table and poured them each a cup of coffee.
He smiled as she caught his eye and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her, offering her a cup.
She sat up, taking it from him with a grin. "Thank you."
He drained his in what seemed an unreasonably short amount of time and stretched over, putting the mug on the bedside table before laying back on his elbow.
"Thirsty?" She asked with a smirk.
"You could say that," he smiled back.
She put her cup next to his and got out of bed. Walking over to where the other bathrobe was, she bit her lip as she felt his eyes watch her go. She picked it up and pulled it on with an easy grace as she turned to face him. He rose to his feet and walked up to her, tying it in front. She watched his face as he made quick work of the knot until his eyes met hers.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," he answered with a kiss.
"Now let's have some breakfast before I pass out," he grinned.
Jane was lifting the cloches on the breakfast tray as Steve quickly retrieved the burn phone from his bag. She sat back in the wingback chair, biting into a strawberry and noticed that he'd gone quiet. She looked around to find him staring at the phone screen; a frown etched on his face.
"What's the matter?"
Steve had unlocked the phone to several messages from Nat.
"There's been a change of plans," he said without looking up. "We have to leave as soon as we can."
He walked over to where the TV remote was and switched on the large flatscreen, flicking to a news channel.
A South African reporter stood in front of the camera, her face a mask of professionalism.
"We're live at the scene where several members of the excavation team disappeared into the massive sinkhole behind me twelve hours ago. Rescue teams have been unable to make contact and are fearing for the worst as reports are starting to come in that the hole may be several miles deep. This after archaeologists discovered a large underground chasm under the area where the sinkhole appeared not long ago. The question on everyone's minds this morning is whether this accident was as easily preventable as it now seems."
Steve frowned and looked back down at the phone screen, reading Nat's messages.
"T'Challa's people have detected an unusual electromagnetic field around the hole, and there is evidence of some kind of electrical activity from deep underground."
He looked up at Jane, who'd walked over to where he was standing.
Sadness flooded his eyes as she watched him and she knew that he didn't want to leave. She didn't want to either. They'd escaped reality here and found a depth to their connection that had them both reeling for what was much too short a time.
She stepped closer and reached up to trace her fingers over the outline of his jaw. "Whatever happens..." She whispered, "I will find you."
He pulled her into his arms and wished away the situation. It was her who finally stepped out of the embrace.
"We have to go..."
"I know." He said, dejected.
As the water started running in the shower, Steve stepped out of the room onto the deck. The line connected in his ear and Nat picked up almost immediately.
"It's about time. What have you been doing?"
"What's the plan?" Steve cut her off.
"You're going to have to fly up. It's risky, but we can't afford the thirteen-hour drive for you to get here."
Steve sighed, he felt like he was being robbed.
"We'll be heading out to the airport in about thirty minutes; I'll keep you posted."
"Steve," she said, having heard the tension in his voice, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," he answered.
"We'll keep her safe," she tried to comfort him.
"Nat, we don't know what we're up against."
There was a loaded silence on the line.
"See you soon," she said and ended the call.
Their domestic flight was to start boarding at 12:00 pm, which left them with ten minutes to get to the boarding gate. Steve was walking, his fingers intertwined with Jane's, across the airport. When they'd checked out at the Atlantic, the staff were very concerned that they might not have enjoyed their stay, but Steve had offered the reason for their early departure to be a family emergency.
"Can we come back here someday?" Jane had asked as he was about to turn onto the road and it had been the only thing to lift his spirits. He stopped and looked at her.
"I'd love nothing more."
Her answering smile broke away some of the ice that had started to reclaim him since he saw Nat's messages.
"Are you okay?" Jane pulled him from his reverie.
"Yeah," he said with a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm okay. How about you?"
"I'm a little nervous." She admitted.
He squeezed her hand with a knowing look.
"There's no reason to be afraid of flying dear," said the old lady behind them in the line to board with a friendly smile.
Jane and Steve turned and smiled at her.
The flight to Johannesburg lasted for an hour and fifty minutes, and they landed in a balmy twenty-seven degrees with a few tufts of cotton wool cloud here and there. Jane picked up immediately that the pace in this city was the opposite to where they had been not two hours ago.
Nat and Sam were waiting for them at arrivals, and they exchanged a quick greeting before heading out to the car.
They were taking a slipway onto the highway when Steve spoke for the first time.
"What's the status on the others?"
"Bucky and Shuri are on their way in, they should be there a few minutes before we arrive and T'Challa and Nakia will arrive in a few hours." Answered Sam. "Gives us time to check in and get the cover going before we hit the site tonight."
"Any new developments?" asked Jane.
"Last time we checked they were hauling some specialised equipment out there to try and lower rescuers into the hole," replied Nat.
"They should not go in there." Jane felt on edge. She had a feeling or more of a knowing that there shouldn't be people anywhere near that place. "We need to get everyone away from there."
Steve frowned at her. "Have you remembered something?"
"No, I just... know."
Steve, Sam and Nat exchanged looks as Nat turned on the radio in the hopes of catching something on the next news bulletin.
Steve pulled Jane close on the back seat and buried his face in her hair. Nat glanced at them in the rearview mirror. A smile fleeted across her features before she turned her attention back to the road.
They'd been driving for about twenty minutes when the news came over the radio.
"In our headlines this hour, the rescue attempts at the Umsuka site has been brought to a stop due to technical difficulties. Authorities are reluctant to send rescuers down to search for survivors before they know if it's safe to do so. Head of rescue operations Mr Elton Ismail had this to say: 'We're doing our best to ascertain the full extent of the situation. We will not risk losing more lives today.'"
Jane let out a tense sigh, and Steve pulled her tighter against him. A further twenty minutes passed, and they were a few miles up a country road when Nat turned right at a sign pointing to The Cradle of Humankind. The clock on the dashboard hit 15:00 as they signed in at the security checkpoint to the Forum Homini Hotel. A further mile or two down a paved road had them in a sandy parking area.
Jane stepped out of the car and felt the runes down her back sear into her spine. She closed her eyes at the pain but swallowed it down. She didn't want to worry the others, but moreover, she didn't want Steve to be more worried than he already was.
The Forum Homini Hotel was built for seclusion. The suites were separated from each other and integrated into the landscape. Grassland extended onto the roof of each unit, making them blend into their surroundings.
Bucky and Shuri were busy checking in when Steve, Jane, Nat and Sam arrived. They looked around when they heard them approaching, but they were careful not to let on that they knew each other. Steve and Bucky exchanged a knowing look.
Steve insisted that Nat and Sam checked in first and waited with Jane for their turn, as it was offseason, there was only one concierge at the desk.
A porter lead the way to their suite. It was down a narrow paved path that wound down an easy hill. The floor to ceiling windows and sliding glass doors looked out onto a view of a large pond and rolling grassland into blue hills in the distance.
The porter very politely showed them around the room before taking his leave. Jane stood just outside the door, staring off into the distance, lost on what was coming next. Steve did a quick security check before he walked out and stood next to her. He surveyed the landscape for a moment before his eyes fell to the ground.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her imploringly.
She blinked out of her reverie and looked at him. "I don't think I have a choice."
He turned towards her, taking her hands. "You always have a choice."
She frowned down at her hands in his. "Would you run away now if it were you?"
His jaw clenched and his eyes closed with a sigh. "Probably not."
"Tonight I find my answers." She said up to him, and he met her eyes.
"What if those answers are things that you wish you never knew?"
"What if they're not?"
Steve's arguments were going against what he knew was rational because he was so afraid of losing her and she knew it.
"I will find you," she whispered, reminding him again of her promise.
He gently ran his thumb over her cheek. "No being a hero."
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "That's your job."