Steve nuzzled his nose into Jane's hair just after she jumped into his arms with unrestrained joy.

"I don't deserve you." She said into his shoulder, her voice husky.

He squeezed her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her neck just below her ear before he whispered, "I'd argue that I don't deserve you, but you'd just throw that right back at me."

She lifted her head so she could look him in the eye. "You're damn right," was her response with a knowing grin.

He let himself get drawn into her eyes, those strangely beautiful eyes that held his world together with their threads of tangerine, a map of fire in the depths. He swallowed as he thought of all she'd lived through, all she'd seen and felt that he could spend a lifetime listening to her tell him about it. He wondered again at her choice to stay human and watched her mirror the small frown between his brows.

"You've sacrificed so much to keep your promise," he said quietly.

"I've given up nothing that I wasn't prepared to let go of when I made that promise," was her answer.

"How could you have known what the implications of that promise would be?"

"There was no way I could know, but I knew what I wanted when I started this journey. I knew I might encounter something that might alter my perspective, but once I learned the truth, I found that the perspective I'd gained in the time without my memory wasn't suddenly gone. I didn't stop loving you. You must understand... before you I'd never known love..."

Steve blinked, and he couldn't help the surge of guilt that pushed another question out of him. "I feel like you've given up too much. That you'll wake up one morning and think, 'what have I done?'"

"I don't make promises idly, and I keep them even less so."

He went in search of something else to validate when she cut him off.

"Steve, there are a lot of things that I would gladly give up, but you will never be one of them."

A blush crept up his cheeks, and she couldn't resist the kiss she stood on her tiptoes to lavish on him. When he came up for air, his cheeks even redder, he pulled her close.

He was still wrapping his head around all of it, but he was happy that she had her memory back and that they came out of it one piece. It had been a heavy weight on him for a long time - the unknown implications of her memories. He felt as though he could breathe again.

She took a step back, sensing his thoughts as her eyes grew darker. "We're not out of the woods yet. The Fallen still slumbers in the earth, and I still have to figure out how I'm going to deal with him."

Steve felt his spine steel. "You won't be dealing with him on your own."

"He is a world ender in his own right. I won't have you or any of the others get killed because of the actions of my people aeons ago."

Steve set his jaw. "Darlin', this is not a negotiation."

He watched as she caught the words ready to jump off the tip of her tongue and bit into her cheek. She could read him like a book, and that's what he was counting on. He wasn't going to argue about his. He, was going to help her in this fight. What the others chose to do was their business.

A defeated sigh escaped her before she finally said; "fine, we should probably get back to the others. Shuri has probably burst into flames by now with having to wait so long to ask me all she wants to know.

Steve raised his eyebrows with a grin that didn't disagree.

It was well into the afternoon before the group went their separate ways again. Shuri had been insatiable, and everyone had hung on every word Jane spoke in answer to her relentless onslaught of questions until Jane had had enough and touched her fingers to the nape of Shuri's neck. She showed her all she wished to know at blinding speed, she'd pushed harder than she probably should have as she'd never transferred knowledge to Shuri this way before, but when she let go, she was met by sparkling, intelligent eyes that looked like they had the veil torn off of them for the first time.

"Do it again!" She all but squealed, and Jane was once again reminded of just how quick and brilliant the mind of her friend was.

"Okay, but this is the last time today, I don't want to give you a migraine."

Shuri waved off the warning like one would the annoyance of a fly.

Sam looked like he'd recovered somewhat from what Jane had shared with them earlier, either that or he was a little drunk, thought Steve.

Bucky made use of the opportunity to talk to his best friend.

"So?" he asked Steve, who was nursing a half drunk bottle of water.

"So what?" teased Steve.

"Don't be a punk; you know what I mean."

Steve sighed as his smile faded. "It's a lot, Buck."

"Too much?"

"Not so far."

"If it isn't too much now, there's no reason for it to become too much."

Steve thought about that for a second.

"D'you love her?" added Bucky when Steve didn't respond.

"Yeah, I do."

"Does she love you?"

"I think so."

"Then that's all you're ever gonna need." He took hold of Steve's shoulder just like he used to when they were kids in Brooklyn.

"You got a good thing here, Steve."

Steve looked up from the half-empty bottle. "I know I do; it's not that."

"Then what?"

Steve felt his gall rise as he spoke. "This Fallen guy, she says he's a world-ender. How is she going to stand against him? She just learned all of this about herself last night. She doesn't even know what abilities she has or how to use them yet."

"We're going to stand with her," said Bucky.

"Buck," said Steve, putting his hand on the forearm held to his shoulder, "she gave up so much to be here, to be with me. I just don't want it to end up costing her her life."

"I know, you can't lose her."

Their eyes locked in agreement unspoken but known.

"We need more time." Said Steve.

"You're always gonna want more time... You know we have to go back to the site tonight."

Steve's jaw clenched. Bucky was right.

"We're gonna give it our best like we always do. This Fallen guy is gonna know what hell is when he wakes up and we're all gonna make sure that nothing happens to her."

Steve gave a nearly imperceptible nod on the crest of a sigh.

"You have a few hours. Make the most of it," said Bucky as the others started to get up from the table in T'Challa's room.

Jane walked around to him and held out her hand. The look on her face told him she knew what he'd been talking about with Bucky. He didn't care. She should know, must know what she meant to him. He stretched out his hand to take hers and felt the electricity surge between them — this girl that would be the death of him. That had him, body and soul. Made him feel like he was doing a HALO jump without a parachute. He knew that when she got him alone, her love would hit him like the force of a stormy ocean.

She led him to their room and without exchanging a word, they knew each others' thoughts. Steve slid the door closed behind him, drawing the gauzy curtains for privacy. She could see it in his whole being, the worry at the chance that he might lose her. She waited for him to close the distance between them and put her hand on the warmth of his chest.

"I will find you." Her voice a near whisper of raw emotion.

His hand came up, and his thumb stroked the curve of her cheek as he swam in her gaze, his heart clenching at her words.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, darlin'." His voice a low rumble in his chest.

"I would expect no less," she said as she kissed his thumb now trailing over her bottom lip.

She watched a fire ignite in his clear blue eyes as a storm broke in her heart and at that moment, thunder rolled outside. Steve was momentarily distracted by it as the sun was blazing unencumbered just minutes before.

In one easy movement, she jumped into his arms, and he caught her effortlessly. She wrapped her legs around him as her breathing quickened and the wind picked up outside. He languished in her eyes before he claimed her mouth with a hunger he had no intention of hiding.

A bright flash of lightning made him open his eyes, and he saw it then, the glowing threads in her eyes as she opened them, questioning why he broke the kiss. He knew it was a tell of the power inside her. He didn't know what it meant, but right now he didn't really care. He found himself pushing her up against the wall as he kissed her again, breathless.

Her hands wandered up and knotted in his hair as his hands caressed the delicate curves of her body. She tightened the grip she had around his waist with a husky moan, and it sent him hurtling off the edge. With a swift tug, he unmade the seams that held the fabric of her shirt around her before pulling off his own and lost himself in the velvet of her skin against his chest.

She wasted no time to start exploring the hard planes of him. She found her legs blocking her exploration and with a measured push, he stepped back as she stood in front of him. For a moment there was nothing but electricity between them as the thunder cracked violently overhead and she closed the distance between them, already starving for the taste of him.

She pushed him back to the edge of the bed as she worked to undo his belt and button. In a swift movement, he assumed command and turned the tables on her, picking her up and turning to push her into the mattress, the rain beginning to pelt against the windows. He settled in the vee of her legs and let his eyes explore. She let him wander for a moment before she pulled him back into her kiss, hot and deep. She let her fingers play through his beard before he moved down to remove her jeans, leaving nothing but a thin lacey garment between them as he kicked away the rest of his clothes.

Another violent crack from the sky above, followed by a flash of lighting as he kissed the lacey edge caressing her hip, she shuddered with pleasure, and he grinned as he kissed his way up to her mouth. He took his time exploring her, unwrapping her, and letting himself get utterly and completely lost...

It was just after six thirty in the evening when Steve wrapped a fluffy white towel around Jane. She had a gentle smile on her face as he kissed her, his blush rising as he recalled the, much longer, hotter and steamier than anticipated, shower.

His phone vibrated in the bedroom and tore them back into the world they'd been happy to leave. Towel wrapped around his waist, he strode across the room and dug the phone out of his pants on the floor.

"Hello," Natasha's voice rasped suggestively in his ear. He didn't take the bait - a moment of silence as he waited.

"Turn on the TV," said Nat.

Steve strode over to the lounge area and picked up the remote, turning on the TV as Jane emerged from the bathroom, still wrapped in the towel. The news channel they'd watched that morning now showed footage of panicked people running around the site. Tremors started shaking the ground not long before, and the experts on the ground were calling the area 'unstable' and 'not safe'. It was clear that a very unorganised evacuation was being attempted.

"Rendezvous in thirty minutes." Came Nat's voice in his ear as he took in the images flashing on the TV.

"Copy that." He answered and ended the call with a click.