Nadia

An hour has already passed but it felt like days already. It was four in the morning and I was just staring blankly at my bedroom ceiling. After my rude awakening, I couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. The same nightmare would keep on plaguing me in my sleep and I would always end up awake the entire night.

It has been like this for the past years. I have been like this since that day that I lost him. Whoever said that when you lose someone it would get better as time passed by: he was a liar. Not a single day passed by that I didn't feel the sadness of losing him, the guilt of not being able to save him and most of all, the anger of not being strong enough to protect him. Since that day, a hole grew in my heart and a part of me died with him. Everything was still vivid in my memory. Whenever I shut my eyes, all of the details on how he slipped through my fingers would play repeatedly like a broken videotape.

"I just wish you're here." A lone tear escaped my eye. No, I couldn't cry here. Everyone would be worried again. I couldn't let them know I cried. Taking deep breaths, I got up and went to the bathroom to get changed into my workout clothes, which was mainly shorts, sleeveless shirt and a jacket. Something had to get my mind off of these things and what better way there was other than punching a bag. Getting a small duffel bag, I placed inside it some stuff that I needed and headed out of my room. Then, I remembered something. I almost forgot to leave a note. If I didn't, uncle would kill me when I get back.

"JARVIS?" I called as I got in the elevator. Immediately, the A.I. responded.

"How may I assist you, Ms. Hunt?"

"Please take me to the garage. Also, would you please leave a note for uncle and Pepper that I'm going out for a morning workout?" The elevator then made a 'ding' sound that told me that I was at the garage level already.

"Of course, miss."

"Thanks, JARVIS. I'll be back after a few hours." With that, I made my way to my car and dumped my stuff inside. Then, I drove to this old gym that looked like the ones in the 1940's. That place had been my haven when I wanted to be alone since he died. Its ambiance just never failed to calm me and it helped me blow some steam off. Normal gyms didn't sit well with me because there were too many annoying people.

When I arrived, I immediately parked my car and went to the gym's basement where people rarely went. It was perfect, no one was here. I then dumped my bag on one of the benches and took off my jacket. Once my hand wraps and gloves were on, I immediately threw punches and kicks at a punching bag without any mercy. Every time I hit, it just reminded me of my time with him and tears were already starting to stain my face. This time I threw a powerful punch that caused the bag to swing vigorously. I sighed and then wiped the tears off of my face.

For a while, I let myself cool down a bit and take long deep breaths. Once my breathing was quite even already, again, I started pummeling the punching bag like there was no tomorrow. People always told me that I should move on but I couldn't. It never got easier even though almost two years had already passed since he got taken away from me. All of my memories with him were still as clear as day. Trying to get my sorrows out, I repeatedly punched the bag.

"Always, always so beautiful, so alluring." He touched my cheek while our foreheads leaned on each other. We kept our eyes closed, relishing each other's affection, as we swayed with the soft melody.

I threw another strong punch at the bag, causing it to sway as it hung on the hook. My mind was unconsciously starting to relive some of my memories of him again.

"Be mine. Always and forever." His striking forest green eyes looked at me straight in the eyes as his warm rough hands cupped my cheeks. Every single emotion flickered in his eyes but the one that stood out always made my heart melt- love.

Gradually, the speed of my punches hastened until I was starting to beat the bag as if it offended me. Tears were apparently streaming down my face again. All sorts of questions and emotions were running through my head. Why did he have to be taken from me? Why the hell did I have to be so weak that I couldn't save the one that I treasured the most?

"Na-Nadia… I love you…" He took his last breath as his eyes turned dull and glassy. My whole world just shattered as I clutched onto him. I screamed at the top of my lungs, drowning myself in misery.

That did it, it was too much. I delivered my final kick and it resulted to a part of the bag getting torn, letting out a good amount of sand. The manager of this gym would probably give me a scolding again for breaking their punching bags and for littering but whatever. I needed this right now.

All of a sudden, my senses were alerted when I felt another presence. I immediately wiped off my tears and put myself on guard. From the corner of my eye, I saw a man, wearing a white shirt and khaki pants, staring at me as he punched a bag of his own. Since when did he arrive? I didn't hear him enter nor did I feel his presence. Well, I shouldn't even be shocked. After all, I was so concentrated in beating the hell out of the punching bag.

After a while of observing the man, I didn't feel any threat from him so I decided to just ignore him. He was just probably one of those annoying guys that I encountered before, who go to the gym to show off and flirt with some girls. If he dared to come near me and do just that, I was going to beat the daylights out of him. Blocking him out, I went to my duffel bag and got drank from my water bottle. I looked at the time and it was already 7:30. Three hours have passed since I came here and I should go home soon. Uncle and Pepper might go look for me again. The last time I took my time here, both of them panicked and uncle searched through the whole New York for me. That was something that I didn't want to happen again.

After a while, I started to lose my patience because the man has been staring at me for the past few minutes. What the hell was his problem?

"Okay, calm down. Patience, Nadia." I wiped my sweat off, ignoring his existence. It was really getting onto my nerves. "That's it!"

"Didn't anybody tell you it's rude to stare?" I glared at the man. As if he was snapped out of his thoughts, the man's eyes widened and his posture straightened.

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am." The man stuttered as his face became flushed with embarrassment. I still glared at him as I studied his features. The man had sandy blonde hair that was styled in an old fashioned way and he had ocean blue eyes. He was tall, taller than 6 ft, and his body was well-built and toned. It was very evident how fit he was, seeing that his fitted white shirt was hugging all of his physique.

There was something about this man, he had an air of being old fashioned and like he didn't feel like he belonged to this time era. Well, that was just what my gut tells me. As people said before, you can't judge a book by its cover. When drinking my water, I could still feel him stealing glances at me.

"Seriously?"

"What?" I turned back to the man and again, his face flushed from being caught. "If you want to say something, spill it."

"I- It's just that… uh… I've never seen you here before, ma'am." He then offered me a smile. There was really something different about this person, I just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"I'll throw that back at you. I've never seen you here before." I maintained a neutral face. "People don't usually go here in this part of the gym."

"Well, I just started coming here a week ago. It just brings back memories and here, it feels like…" He said with such nostalgia in his eyes that I couldn't help but be intrigued.

"The place where you belong." I interrupted and he was now looking at me with shock and curiosity. "Home." He was about to say something but he was abruptly cut off by the ringing of my phone. I scrambled through my bag and took my phone. The caller was Carter Williams. Carter was a close friend of mine. "Excuse me, I have to take this." The man nodded as I turned away from him. I answered the call and brought the phone to my ear before pulling it away from my ear.

"Nadia! Thank God, you answered!" My boisterous friend yelled.

"Well, hello to you too, Carter." I sarcastically greeted.

"Shield needs you to come in, Fury's orders."

"You have got to be kidding me right? Carter, I just got my vacation after not having any day off for three months. Also, my uncle and Pepper are going to kill me if I took another job. They would think that I'm over exerting myself again like last time." Carter tried to cut my rant off but he couldn't.

"Nadia, Shield is under turmoil. Barton has been compromised." I immediately turned serious. That was already enough for me.

"I'm on my way." I hung up and quickly fixed my duffel bag. Someone stopped me when I was about to go out.

"Um, ma'am! What's your name?" I then turned around to face the owner of the voice. Right, I forgot that he was here.

"Why should I tell you?" I raised my brow at him. "I don't even know you."

"Right, that's really rude of me. I'm Steve." He smiled at me. "May I please know your name, ma'am?"

"It's Sarah." He was about to say something but I interrupted again. "Caitlyn or maybe Angela. Pick one." Steve narrowed his eyes at me as a smile started to make its way on his face.

"Will you ever tell me your name, ma'am?" I smirked at this, he was really persistent.

"Maybe. Who knows if I see you again, perhaps I'll tell you."

"Then, will I see you again?" Steve said with somewhat a hopeful voice. What was he hopeful for?

"Who knows." I then made my way out of the gym as an amused smirk started to plaster on my face. Putting my things in the car, I then drove back to Stark tower. All that happened this morning came back to me. Clint was compromised and the person who did that to him was now marked. He was not going to get away with this. Then all of a sudden, my mind then brought me back to meeting that man at the gym. He had somehow piqued my curiosity. Steve, huh? That person was definitely strange yet intriguing.

Hi guys! Here's a new update! Thank you to breebabbles, Shinigamidemidragonslayer99, Hellawoez! Thank you for adding my story to your favorites and following it! :D I'm not sure when I will post another chapter but this one won't probably take me long unlike my other story. Until next time~~! :D