Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 5

Maria, Steve and Natasha were stood behind the glass, looking down on the simulation area where the rest were running around, trying to finish the simulated mission they had been given. With a pained expression, Maria watched as they split up – though not on purpose. Wanda went the wrong way, thinking the flag they were supposed to grab (together) was that way, while the others went the other way. Wanda glanced back but did not ask where they were going, instead moving on her own. Sam did notice and sighed, the shake of his head notifying Maria that these sort of things usually happened on the simulations. As some simulated enemies appeared, Sam and Vision stayed together to take them down while Rhodey flew up in the air and passed them by, making his way towards the end of the area to grab the white flag, triumphantly holding it up in the air as the simulation shut itself off.

Maria and Natasha glanced at each other before Steve pressed a little red button on the control panel in front of them, leaning forwards to speak through the speakers, "Remember, this is not a game. The goal is to grab the flag as a team."

"It's hard to take this seriously when the enemies' fists go right through you," mumbled Rhodey as he put the flag back down.

Maria pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He's not completely wrong," shrugged Natasha. "Maybe we should get them a real mission."

"When they can't even fight together as a team when the mission is fake?" asked Steve.

"Maybe the added pressure of it being real will shape them into a team," offered Maria. "I know that's what happened in Hell's Kitchen with my group."

Steve sighed, glancing back out through the glass overlooking the area. The new recruits were all stood there, staring up at the glass, awaiting further orders.

"Alright then," he said before pressing the red button again. "That's enough for today. Meet you back in the living room in one hour."

"I mean, compared to what we probably looked like the first time we tried to work together, it went well," said Maria, though the tone in her voice changed it into more of a question than an actual statement.

The new recruits were sitting in the sofas, all watching with idle eyes as the three Avengers stood before them.

"I don't know…" mumbled Steve.

"I agree. The first mission we ever went on ended up with you, Stark and Thor trashing a forest," said Natasha, her hands on her hips. "Give them some slack, Cap. They're new to this."

"Yeah, and some of us do know how to fight as a team from previous military experience," said Sam, gesturing to him and Rhodey. "Once we're out there, it'll go just fine."

Steve glanced over at Maria for reassurance and she gave him some through a half-hearted smile, discreetly shrugging her shoulders.

"I'll think about it," said Steve, turning back to the new recruits. "But I'm not sending you out alone. We'll come with you then."

"Deal," said Sam with a bright smile.

Maria clasped her hands together, "Now that we're done training, I think we should celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" asked Vision.

Maria blushed, "Well… How far you've come as a team, of course."

"You had this planned before you saw us work as a team, hadn't you?" asked Sam with a smirk on his lips.

Maria shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about…"

With the help of Wanda, Vision and Rhodey, Maria carried out everything they would need for the picnic she wanted them all to have. Out on the green grass, close to the forest surrounding the facility, they placed several blankets to sit on and several baskets filled with food of all sorts along with several bottles of wine. Everyone sat in a ring, the baskets of food placed in the middle. The afternoon sun was shining down on them and a summer breeze was softly brushing over them, sending fresh air from the forest their way and invigorating all of them. Laughter was almost all that could be heard from the heroes as they ate the entire afternoon (Steve eating the most) while also enjoying each other's company. Maria showed off some of her powers to those who had not yet seen them, making some of the grapes hover in the air before squashing them with her powers and making them form a beautiful picture of them all sitting out there on the blankets. Everyone laughed as she made the squashed grapes fly into Sam's face, making Sam stand up and chase Maria for a while. It was not until Maria ducked behind Steve for protection that Sam raised his hands, promising her he would stop. A little later on, after he said he needed to go to the restroom, he returned with a bucket of water which he emptied over her as revenge.

Even during the late evening the heroes stayed there, drinking from the wine though now talking rather than laughing. Some were talking about their life, telling the others about difficult times or happy times in their life. Even Steve gave them a little story from before he was Captain America. He told them about his graduation and how he had tripped and fallen down the steps of the podium. Some of the Avengers chuckled slightly at that, though Maria and Sam both saw the memory replay in his eyes, seeing that something else happened as well that he did not tell the others.

"What about you?" asked Rhodey, finishing one of his many tales of bravery as War Machine. His eyes were locked on Maria, the other Avengers also looking over at her. "Surely Mater Mortis has loads of stories to tell?"

"Yeah, who was Maria Dalton before becoming an Avenger?" asked Sam. "And I don't mean who she was according to the files. Tell us something that wasn't written there."

Maria fiddled with the wine glass in her hands. She had told them about what she had been doing the past six months – training and working through her past – though she had not told them about what she had found out about her past. There had been things in her mind, locked away to protect her own sanity, that had been the cause for her losing her powers in the first place. Mainly because her powers were the main thing she had locked away. Those very things, those memories, were the majority of her childhood memories. Seeing as the memories from what she did before being an Avenger were out of the question to talk about, the only thing left to talk about was her short time with her grandparents.

"Well…" she said, feeling compelled to answer as everyone else had been telling stories from their past. "I used to live with my grandparents. It was during that time that I tried to learn how to play the piano."

"You can play the piano?" asked Wanda with a soft smile.

"Yes," smiled Maria before continuing, "But I sucked at it. I used to cry when playing the piano because I just couldn't do it. There was so much going on at once and I couldn't understand it at all… One day, I walked over to my grandparents and told them that I wanted to quit. I mean, I sucked at it and it was stressing the hell out of me. I remember my granny walking over to me, crouching down in front of me and asking me if I wanted to quit because I was bad at it or because I didn't like playing anymore. When I couldn't give her an answer, she walked me over to the piano, sat me down and played duets with me all through the night. I had the time of my life and she made me realize that I loved playing the piano, but that I just didn't feel like I was good at it. So, she sat me down each evening and helped me, taught me… Until I understood enough to continue trying on my own.

"I suppose the moral of that story is that, my granny taught me to never give up. No matter how bad you are at something, you should always keep trying if you love doing it. Had it not been for her… I don't think I would be sitting here with you guys today," said Maria, offering her team, her family, a soft smile.

Wanda placed a hand on Maria's, "That was a beautiful story. She seemed like an amazing grandmother."

"Oh, she was…" said Maria with a nod of her head. "I don't know what would have happened to me had she not been there for me."

The night continued on after Maria's story with Sam and Rhodey telling war stories and Steve comparing them to his own. It was not until the moon had replaced the sun up on the sky and its soft light was shining down on them that most of the heroes decided to go to bed, leaving Steve, Sam and Maria on their own.

"You know, things weren't like this before you came back," said Steve. "We weren't as much of a family then."

The three were lying on their backs, looking up at the star-filled sky above them. With a soft smile on her lips, Maria turned her head to look at Steve. Their faces were inches apart as they looked at each other. Maria was brought back to the time when Steve and she had visited Central Park, staying until the night had fallen over them. They had almost kissed for the first time there, when someone had attacked them. Though it was not that part which Maria remembered as she lay there. It was the part where his eyes shone like blue crystals and the way his skin looked slightly pale against in the moonlight. A soft flutter in her stomach caused her smile to widen, her eyes flickering to his lips every now and then.

"Guys!"

Sam interrupted the moment by forcefully slapping his hand down on Maria's stomach, causing her to jump. He was pointing upwards, his eyes slightly dazed from the amount of wine he and Rhodey had consumed together after taking on a bet.

"A shooting star!" he exclaimed, removing his hand from her stomach as he noticed he had gained their attention.

Sam was lying to her right, while Steve was to her left. The three of them looked up at the stars, indeed seeing the last few seconds of the flashing streak of a meteor touching the atmosphere. It was the first time Maria had seen a falling star and she smiled.

"Beautiful," she whispered.

"What did you wish for?" asked Sam, his words slurring together slightly.

"Nothing," she replied.

"Boring…"

Maria chuckled, "'Cause I have everything I need right here."

She grabbed Steve's hand with her left hand and Sam's hand with her right hand, "My family."

"You are so cheesy," said Sam, earning a chuckle from Steve.

"What did you wish for then, Sam?" asked Steve.

"More wine."

The three of them laughed at his wish, Maria and Sam letting go of each other while Maria and Steve kept their fingers intertwined. His thumb was gently tracing circles on the top of her hand, sending shivers up through her arm and down towards the rest of her body. There was something about the strong grip he had on her hand, the strong grip he could not help as he was a super soldier, mixed with the soft and tender gesture that simply made her sigh out of love.

"When you wish upon a star," albeit Sam did not have a bad singing voice, Maria could not hold in her laughter. Perhaps it was the fact that the words were slightly slurred because of his intoxication, or the fact that he was trying really hard to mimic Louis Armstrong, "Makes no difference who you are! Anything your heart desires, will come to youyes…"

"I don't get it," said Steve, a confused look on his face that simply got even more laughter from Maria.

"Disney, man!" exclaimed Sam.

"Oh…" nodded Steve.

"You know, Pinocchio, right?" asked Sam.

"No. I haven't watched any Disney movies before."

Maria and Sam shared a shocked look before exclaiming at the same time, "We're having a movie night tomorrow!"

Steve chuckled along with Sam and Maria's laughter before shaking his head at their antics.

"Okay, I gotta go to bed," said Sam, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, letting out one last laugh.

"Night," said Maria.

"Goodnight, Sam," said Steve.

Sam stood up, wobbling slightly on the spot before beginning to make his way back to the facility, losing his balance from time to time while still singing the Disney song.

"I'm never going to let him forget this," said Maria, shaking her head before continuing to look up at the sky.

"You know, I do agree with you," said Steve after a little while.

"With what?"

"I don't need to wish for anything," he said, his hand gently squeezing hers before he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her while still holding onto her hand. His eyes looked down at their intertwined fingers and she could see a hint of shyness in them. Even after all those years, even after having shared a bed, he was still shy around her. Her heart ached at that thought, wanting him to feel comfortable around her while she, at the same time, found it incredibly sweet that he was shy around her. It sort of gave her a boost of confidence. "I've got everything I need right here."

He finally looked into her eyes again, the moonlight twinkling in them. As he brought up his hand to his lips to place a soft kiss to her knuckles, she wished intently that it was her lips he was kissing, and not her hand. They were alone in the dark and slightly chilly night, the heat of their bodies intertwining being the one thing that kept them from shivering from the cold. His eyes had burned into hers when he had pressed his lips against her knuckles, watching for the reaction he goddamn knew he was going to get as he stirred something in the pit of her stomach. The void inside of her closed in on itself, warming her up and causing her to breathe out slowly. Her arm was pressed up against his chest as he kissed her hand and she could feel his muscles through the plaid shirt he was wearing, those muscles she had once been able to touch whenever she pleased.

Though his voice cut in through the tension and made her come back from her heated sensation, "These stars are not the same, you know."

Maria furrowed her brow, "Steve, they are. The stars don't change like that. Well, maybe they're older now… But they're still stars and they're still in the same place."

"Hmm…" he hummed, his eyes smiling at her. "No, they're not the same. They're ten times brighter then what they were back in the fifties."

Maria offered him a slightly distrustful look to which he chuckled, "You know why?"

"No," she replied honestly.

Letting go of her hand, which nearly caused her to pout as she missed the warmth his hand brought her, he placed his hand on her cheek, making sure she was looking at him while his thumb traced the outlines of her cheekbone.

"With you in my life… Everything is ten times brighter and ten times better. Whether it's the stars and the way they shine, or the sun and the way it warms… It's all better."

"Stop it…" breathed Maria, gently shaking her head. "That's physically impossible."

"Maybe," hummed Steve, not missing a beat to move in closer to her. Ever since she had expressed to him that she wanted to help Bucky as much as he did, he had felt a rush of want and need for her. Whether it was because he wanted to show her gratitude or because he wanted them to get back to where they used to be faster, he did not know. Though he knew that he could wait no longer to be close to her. "But love is not something physics can measure."

The way her lips parted as he did something that took her by storm always roused something in the pit of his stomach. And as he uttered the word 'love' in her presence once again, her lips did that very thing again. He could barely hold himself from pressing his lips to hers and he knew that she felt the same the way her eyes kept flickering down to his mouth. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder, gently tugging him down to her until their noses touched. The moonlight twinkled in her green eyes… There was too much beauty in front of him to ignore.

Gently, he pressed his lips to hers. It was nothing like their first kiss at all, nor any other kiss after that. Their lips felt familiar against each other and they both felt, right there and then, just how long they had waited to finally kiss the other again. As if it was an automatic reaction to the feeling of the others' lips against their own, both heroes shifted so they were fully pressed against the other.

However, their promise to the other ran through their minds and so, they ended the kiss, staying fully pressed against each other. Steve's breathing was erratic, his eyes still closed as he pressed his forehead against hers. Maria could see and feel what he was fighting against. She herself was fighting against the same thing. That urge… That want…

"We promised to take it slow," she whispered, one hand caressing his cheek. "We promised to be gentlemen…"

Her little joke was taken as a serious statement by Steve and his eyes popped up. He seemed to search her eyes for something, a sign to tell him that he could, for once, let go of his own morals and simply play along with his inner desires. It could work, they clearly wanted to move faster than they had agreed on, but was it the right choice? Would it be strange if they slipped one time and then continued going slowly the next day? They had promised to take it slow… though their need…

Steve let out a grunt as he moved away from her, laying himself back down on his back. He was a gentleman and they had made a promise to move slowly and work their way back to where they were before. Maria smiled at his pained face, gently shifting so she was lying next to him with her head on his shoulder, her fingertips tracing circles on the fabric covering his toned chest.

"Nothing will ever make me fall out of love with you," she whispered, "you're too goddamn perfect."

"I highly doubt that," he said, gently lifting her face up to his by gently placing a finger underneath of her chin. "The most perfect creature alive is right next to me."