Because they took our love and they filled it up.Filled it up with Novocaine
and now I'm just numb.
Now I'm just numb.
- Novocaine by Fall Out Boy

One week later

Kim and Laura were leaning against a S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV that was parked opposite a courthouse in Washington DC.

Laura looked pained, Kim thought, looking at the young woman's tired face and eyes full of grief.

"So what happens now?" Kim asked, turning her head to face Laura's.

"He'll most likely be put in a penitentiary for a while. Not for long; the world needs him, but just long enough that he 'learns his lesson'. Them he'll come out and continue doing what he does best." Laura guessed half-heartedly, staring at the car that Steve was about to slip out of.

They both watched in silence as Steve was led out by two armed guards. He looked around at them and locked eyes with Laura. She managed a smile to keep his spirits up, and before he could smile back, he was pulled away.

The seconds seem to drag into ours with every step that Steve took. across the road, through the crowd, then up the pristine white steps towards where his fate lay.

Steve was halfway up the steps when it happened; the shot.

It crashed through the sounds of the camera's clicking and flashing, halting them immediately as the journalists watched in horror as Steve fell to the ground.

Kim clapped her hands to her mouth as salty tears quickly formed in her eyes. There was a shrill cry from next to her, and the next thing Kim knew, Laura was sprinting towards the steps of the court, gun in hand and eyes clouded with grief.

There was another shot, but Laura expertly dodged it and continued. She reached the steps and kneeled by Steve and then pulled and cradled his head in her lap as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents crowded the scene, blocking it off from the surging press as Coulson, Peter and Natasha ran towards Laura and Steve from the SUV parked around the corner.

Kim slowly walked forwards until she, too, was sprinting towards the scene. She pushed through the solid wall of burly agents and slowly climbed the steps to join Coulson, looking around her as the press continued to swarm the scene. Helicopters circled above and the wail of an ambulance sounded in the distance.

The doors of the courthouse burst open and Fury strode out with Tony Stark hot on his heels. They stood next to Kim, Coulson, Natasha and Peter as they watched the inevitable unfold in front of their eyes.

Steve was taking short, raspy breaths as Laura stroked his hair, her tears falling down her face and onto his cheeks.

"You'll get through this… you'll be alright." She whispered, taking his hand and pressing it against her cheek.
Steve smiled softly, taking his hand that was on Laura's cheek and running it over her hair.
"I love you." She muttered, shutting her eyes and turning her head away slightly. His hand moved back towards her cheek and she looked back, catching his loving gaze for a moment before he let out a final, shuddering breath and his crystal eyes slid shut. The hand on Laura's cheek thudded to the ground, as Steven Grant Rogers stopped moving.

Laura let out a soft cry as she placed her head against Steve's, her grip on him becoming tighter. Tony moved forward and tentatively placed a hand on Laura's shoulder, crouching down to her level.

Laura looked up and her eyes darkened, her grief taking over her actions. She reached down and picked up her gun, standing and aiming it at Tony, who stumbled backwards, tripping and falling on his back and then getting to his feet, his hands in the air.

"Laur-" he started , edging forwards before Laura shot the step next to his feet.

"Shut up." She warned, this time aiming her gun at him.

"Agent Stark, stand down!" Shouted Coulson, creeping towards her.

"It's his fault." Said Laura in a dangerously calm voice. "If he hadn't been so insistent on that damn registration act, he would still be here. Why a public trial, dad? Why would you do that? I'll tell you why…"

Coulson had now stopped moving forwards, and was staring blankly at Tony.

"He wanted the world to know that Tony Stark wins. Because that's just it, isn't it? The winner isn't the public or the government… it's you."

Tony staggered backwards, more hurt than ever evident on his face.

Coulson gently put his hand on Laura's shoulder and tried to pull her away, but she shrugged it off and took a step towards Tony.

Then it happened in a split second…

Laura dropped to the ground, her gun automatically firing and Tony threw himself to the ground. The bullet missed and ricoched off the side of the courthouse as Coulson and Natasha rushed forwards to check on Laura. They rolled her over and Coulson heaved a sigh of relief as they found her unconscious from an icer shot by Hunter on a nearby building.

"How did we let this happen?" Asked Coulson.

Kim sat on the bus next to Fitz and Simmons. No-one spoke as agents slowly walked backwards and forwards to Coulson's office. The atmosphere was tense, like the aftermath of a devastating explosion.

Then a stretcher, and the heavy, lifeless body of Steve was wheeled through and into the lab.
Simmons softly sighed, got up and walked over to do the post-mortem.

Fitz put his hand on Kim's and gave her a weak smile. "I sometimes forget how young you are. To go through all of this… you're sixteen and you've killed people. I've had to save you from bullet wounds and worse when you were even younger. How the hell do you do it?" he asked, and Kim noticed how tired he looked. He had dark bags under his eyes, his hair was even more scruffy than usual, his tie was so loose it threatened to undo.

"I forget." She answered honestly. "Sometimes it's better not to think about how most people my age are worrying about GCSE's and A-levels, but I did mine years ago so I could go back to killing people for a living. Sometimes that's best."

Laura awoke with a start inside the bus holding room. She sat up and immediately felt dizzy; her head swam and there was a strange ringing in her ears. She shut her eyes for a moment, waiting for her body to focus itself. When she opened them properly, she saw clearly; The metallic walls were giving the room an eerie feeling but there were fresh clothes and a small table next to the bed, which made her less afraid. As she slipped into the jeans and pulled one of Steve's checked button-up shirts over herself she remembered what had happened.

She sat down, staring at the floor as fresh tears sprung to her eyes quicker than the memories that followed. A shot, then Steve fell down.

He was dead.

Coulson stepped in at the moment when the realisation hit her. He looked at her sympathetically as she slid off the bed and sobbed, pulling at her hair and curling in on herself.

"He's gone isn't he?" She asked between sobs, not looking at him. Coulson walked over and sat down next to her, putting one arm around her.

"Yeah." He whispered, holding her down as she tried to get up. "Laura, stay here for a bit. Get it all out." Laura stayed very still for a few moments, then looked up at him, steady tears still falling from her face.

Coulson looked like he had been crying as well. His eyes were red, and there were dark splotches on his blazer.

"Did you catch the killer?" She muttered, brushing her matted and lifeless hair out of her face.

"We did, but that piece of information can wait." He said, trying to avoid the question at all costs.

"Coulson… just tell me." Laura said. "It can't get worse than it already is."

Coulson sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Fine… you remember we had to hand Ward over to the US government a few years back?" Coulson asked, and Laura nodded slowly, fearing what was coming next. "He escaped, and we've been bumping into him every now and again ever since. It was him. He's back in our custody."

"Ward?" Laura questioned slowly, standing up and facing the still sitting down Coulson.

He nodded, and Laura snapped away, running her hands through her hair as anger once again clouded over her grief.

"Why does he always screw things up in my life? Why?! Why me? He can never seem to leave me alone and it's NOT FAIR!" she yelled at no-one in particular; picking up a bottle of water that had been placed by her bed, she threw it at the wall. It bounced off and nearly hit Coulson. She ran forward and pounded against the reinforced wall until she had no strength left. She slid back down aimlessly and curled up into a tight ball, starting to sob again.

"You should know… he reacted very similarly when he found out you died. He nearly smashed a window in the Triskellion before Fury and I could hold him down." Coulson said to her, and Laura gave out a weak chuckle.

"That's so him." She whispered. "Do you remember when Tony nearly beat him up when he found out Steve got me pregnant?" she laughed at the memory; Tony had gone as far as to put on his suit and chase Steve around the playground. Steve was smirking the whole time, and outran Tony enough that FitzSimmons were able to hide him inside the lab before Tony had even rounded the corner.

Coulson laughed at the memory as well. "Or the time when you, Natasha and Clint put whipped cream on his hand when he was asleep, then he chased you guys until he caught up to you and rubbed the rest of the cream on your face?" He asked, and Laura snorted at the memory.

"That was before we were married… I thought he was so mad until he rubbed the cream on my face then kissed me." Laura added, laughing even more.

They spent the next hour like that; sharing their memories of him. Laughing and crying together. Steadily, more people joined them to recount their memories together, until Natasha, Clint, Skye, Sam, Vision, Wanda, Pietro and FitzSimmons had joined them. They were all sat together in a circle, their laughter numbing the grief as they kept the memory of Steve Rogers alive.