AN: Thank you all for taking the time to leave reviews. I really, really appreciate them, and I read them over and over for motivation! A Mo/Steve moment. I enjoyed writing this :) short little chapter.
Sam was right: Mo hadn't gone far at all. In fact, when he finally made it outside, he collided with her as she was on her way back in.
"Whoa," he said, gripping her shoulders as she smacked into his chest. She'd done it with some force and she bounced off, her eyes going huge as she yelped in surprise. He steadied her right away. "Hey," he said, "you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, but her eyes were vacant and she was somewhere else. "I gotta get back in there—I shouldn't have left." She tried to push past him but he caught her arm. Her head snapped around to glare at him, her eyes flicking from his face to his hand, one eyebrow arched.
"Wait a second," he said, releasing her, and she stayed where she was.
"Look, Steve, I really need to—"
He held his ground. "I think you need to take a minute," he said, and she shook her head. "Yes," he insisted, and when she continued to shake her head he grinned. "I'm not letting you go back in there. You can fight me if you want." When she still looked doubtful, he added, "Don't make me order you, Sgt. Fox."
At this, the intensity in her eyes faltered and she huffed out a breath. "You're awfully chipper," she said, "considering…" Steve scratched the back of his head. "Hey," she said, stepping closer and reaching out to touch him but withdrawing her hand quickly. He raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay?"
"I asked you first," he said half-heartedly, but his grin wavered, and he knew by now that Mo wouldn't miss it. She sighed and stepped closer, taking his elbow and guiding him to sit on the step beside her.
"Maybe you're right," she said, "maybe we both need a little break." She sat beside him, legs stretched out, and looked at him, nudging him with her shoulder. "What's up? What's on your mind?"
He shook his head. "You're the one who just got strangled. I came out here to make sure you were alright."
"He didn't strangle me," Mo said, "he was just trying to scare me."
"Looked like it worked," Steve said, meeting her eyes, which were dark for a moment.
"It did," she said, avoiding his gaze as she said it, then looking back up at him. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
She rubbed her eyes, looking very tired. "For being scared," she said after a moment, and her voice was distant.
"I don't blame you for being scared, Sargent," he said, looking at her. She smiled softly. "I think we were all scared."
"I'm not supposed to let him see it, though," she said. "I'm supposed to keep cool. I'm not supposed to storm out like that—"
"Hey," he said, "don't be so hard on yourself."
She pressed her forehead into her hands and took a deep breath before she slapped her hands on her knees and looked at him. "Do you think he can be saved?"
Steve was silent for a long time, but Mo's eyes never left his face. He considered, and then he nodded. "It'll never be the same," he said slowly. "I know that. As much as I want him back, I—it'll be different. But I think we can help him."
She nodded, looking determined, before she met his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said again, and he quirked his brows at her, grinning a little.
"You got that much to be sorry for?"
She smirked, shaking her head. "I know this is hard on you," she said, and he looked away. "I know that. Don't think I don't. I can't imagine what it's like for you. And I know I'm hard on you, too—I know I am, don't deny it. I feel like I yell at you a lot, and I just need you to understand that I—I'm a pain in the ass, okay?"
At this, Steve let out a loud, startled, genuine laugh. "What?" he asked, still laughing, and even Mo grinned again. "You are not."
"I am," she said around a little smile. "Look, I've got my problems, okay. I know I yell a lot and I get really frustrated when I feel like I'm not being heard, and I just yell—and I feel like I target you, and I know I need to be more understanding because I can't imagine the pain you're in and I don't want to make it worse. And I just… I feel like I'm drowning sometimes, like I don't know how to.. to… how are you doing, Steve? Really?"
He suddenly felt very exhausted. "I'll be okay," he said honestly. "I've been through—actually, no. I haven't been through worse." He looked at her, and he suddenly felt very lost. "I don't know what to do," he confessed. "I feel like I just make things worse. I just want to be there for him, but I can't be. The one person who's always been in my corner, and I can't help him."
"You're doing amazing," she said, and he scoffed and she squeezed his arm, a light pressure. "I mean that, okay? I can't imagine—I mean, you thought you lost your best friend, and then you found out he was alive, but that he was the Winter Soldier and he couldn't remember you. I—that must've been—and now—"
"It's like losing him all over again," Steve finished for her, seeming to deflate.
"We'll get him back, Steve," she said, her voice suddenly very raw, rough with emotion. Startled, he looked at her and found her eyes glossy. "Okay? Piece by piece if we have to, but we'll get him back."
"I hope so," Steve murmured. "I miss the guy. He's the one thing that's been constant in my life, and losing him… you can't imagine that pain." He felt her tense a little beside him and when he glanced at her, she was facing him but her eyes were distant. He cursed himself. "I'm sorry," he said. "You—"
"It's okay," she said, brushing him off. "You couldn't have known."
"Oh, boy," Steve mused. "Good going, Steve." She laughed. "You've never told me about him—or her?"
"Him," Mo said. "Sgt. Ryan Harper. He lost his life; I lost my leg." She shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was.
"I'm sorry," Steve murmured.
Mo looked at him intensely. "Hey," she said, "I'm not gonna let that happen to you, alright? You're not gonna lose your best friend. Not again. What do you say?"
He felt oddly comforted by her words. Looking at her, the expression on her face and the tone of her voice, he could tell that she wasn't just blowing smoke. She truly believed what she was saying.
"I'd say I like the sound of that," Steve said, and she flashed him a smile.
"Think they're okay in there?"
"Is it bad if I don't want to find out just yet?" Steve asked with a self-deprecating laugh.
"What happened after I left?"
"He started screaming. Said he hated me, that he never wanted to be found…"
"Oh," she said sympathetically, and she leaned into him a little. He was startled at first but relaxed, taking comfort in the gesture. "You know he doesn't mean it," she murmured. "He's trying to hurt us. To scare us off. We have to stay strong, okay—you have to stay strong."
"Yeah," Steve said. "I know." That didn't make it hurt any less. "I'd give anything—my life—for him, and he—"
"Hey," she interrupted sternly. "Don't do that. He loves you, Steve, just like always. We're all gonna help each other through this."
"Maybe I should go somewhere else," Steve suggested absently. "I mean, you and Sam seem to have a good handle on it. I don't want to set him back."
"No," Mo said firmly, and he looked at her again. "We need you. He needs you. Okay? I need you. You know him better than anyone. I can't do this without you, Steve."
Steve chuckled. "You're just saying that. If I leave, who will you yell at?"
She wrinkled her nose at him, grinning. "That, too," she said. "Really, though, I'm not letting you go anywhere. And I promise to yell at you less, if it means you stick around."
"Alright," Steve laughed, and it was silent for a moment before Steve looked at her again. This time she turned her face to meet his eyes, and he found that hers were lively. He felt a sudden flare of admiration for her. After what Bucky had done to try to scare here, here she sat, standing firm, a sparkle in her eyes, alive and ready to charge back into that room.
"What," she said after a moment, her eyebrows drawing down, "why are you looking at me like that?"
Steve flushed and scratched his nose, turning his face away.
"Nothing," he stammered. "I—I just think you're—swell."
Swell.
"Swell," she repeated, her mouth tugging up in one of those smiles that seemed to transform her whole face. The uncontrollable, contagious kind.
"Swell," he repeated lamely, ducking his head slightly, embarrassed. She laughed a warm laugh and she nudged him.
"Well, I'll be damned; Captain America thinks I'm swell."
He laughed, grateful that she'd chosen to joke about it. "Really, though," he said after a moment, and she met his eyes, her smile still in place. "You're tenacious," he said, thinking of a better word. "Most people would have given up by now. I admire that. And I… I appreciate that."
He couldn't tell very well in the dark, lit only be a couple of streetlamps, but he thought he saw her cheeks turn a little pink.
"Well—thank you," she said, then groaned. "So what do you say? Ready to go back in?"
"You got a plan?"
"Please," she said, "I've always got a plan." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, but I have an idea."
He chuckled and stood, looking down at her. She looked up at him, screwing her mouth to one side, and then reached up. "Help?" she asked, wiggling her fingers, which she never did—she never asked for help. He grabbed her hands and tugged her to her feet, keeping her steady as she regained her balance on the prosthetic.
"Hate this thing," she muttered.
Steve thought for a moment. "You know," he said thoughtfully, opening the door for her so she could head inside. She looked back at him. "I know a guy…"
AN: Review, please! I really wanted to develop their relationship a little – I haven't written much of it, and there will be much more to come between them, but they haven't had much time together. So I decided to give them a little scene. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!