A/N

This chapter may be a little bit dark... But I don't think it's so dark that I actually have to warn people to not read it. I rewrote it. The first one was much more graphic than this and MUCH darker. But this is better, I think.

Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 16~
Mind Games Part 2

Steve's POV

Music was blasting. People were laughing; dancing - Soldiers were dancing with their girls.

Smiling.

Steve walked towards them. As he did, someone took a picture, the flash making him flinch. Further away from him, a couple of soldiers had spilled wine on their friend and to Steve, it rather looked as though their friend had been shot.

He stopped walking, taking in a deep breath.

This was what it would have been for him had he returned after the war. If he had never fallen down into the ice; he would have been reminded of the war each day because there would be no war for him to stay in. Now, he had no war like back in the days, but he was always fighting. Whether it was against Hydra or someone smuggling weapons over the boarders, he was always fighting. He didn't have time to relax and take it all in. He didn't have time for the fears the war had caused him, the still existing stress that it was giving him in his every-day life.

As he continued to walk, he fought he heard the sound of gunshots in the background, though as he tried to listen a bit better, the shots disappeared and all he could hear was the music. Now that he was used to different music and a better quality of it, he thought it sounded rather dull. Though he couldn't help but feel at home with the music and the way people danced and laughed with each other. It was obviously set in his own time. The time he missed less and less for each day that passed with Maria.

"Are you ready for our dance?"

Steve turned around, coming face to face with Peggy. He looked at her with a shocked expression on his face, not being able to stop the warm feelings that appeared in the pit of his stomach as he saw her beautiful smile, her red dress and her twinkling eyes.

"The war is over, Steve," said Peggy with a smile. "We can go home. Imagine it."

As if it was on que with what Peggy had asked her to do, everyone disappeared. Steve was left alone in the large room, the music having been turned off. And to him, that was exactly what he figured going home would be like now. Not just if he had indeed never crashed into the ice, but also in the modern world. What was he supposed to do then? The emptiness of it was unbearable to him and he wished Peggy could return to him…

As he stood there, he saw glimpses of him and Peggy dancing, smiling. Though it wasn't real, he wasn't dancing with her. He only saw it in front of him. Though at the moment, he wasn't quite sure what was real…

"Steve?"

Again, he turned around. Though this time, something else happened…

Maria's POV

Darkness. Isolation. Emptiness.

She walked forwards, her hands outstretched in front of her as she tried to find a light switch or anything solid so that she would figure out where she was. Though the longer she fumbled around and the more she turned and twisted around, she got more and more lost.

A cold breeze suddenly blew right through her, making her heart twist and turn in pain.

"Hello!?" she called out.

For a brief moment, she thought she felt someone's hand press against her cheek, her name being called. Though it felt so far away. So far…

"Maria…"

She turned around at the sound of the voice. Fear grasping her heart as she recognized the voice. Darkness was still seen in front of her though she suddenly knew she wasn't alone anymore. Someone else was there with her.

The sound of a light being turned on was heard and she suddenly saw a lamp hanging from a ceiling she could not see a little ahead of her. The light illuminated what looked like part of a kitchen and Maria recognized it immediately. It was the kitchen of the apartment where she and her mother had lived after her father had left.

A woman was standing in the kitchen, her back towards Maria. And as Maria walked towards the woman, she saw the woman twitching with fury. Maria's hands were shaking and although she recognized the scene, she couldn't place which memory was being replayed. It was as though the memory was so horrible that she couldn't even remember it.

The woman turned around as Maria reached her and it was indeed Maria's mother. She was pale, as pale as she had looked when Maria had found her dead in the living room all those years ago. A bit of vomit was even on her shirt just as Maria remembered. Was this truly the only picture her subconscious mind had of her mother?

"What did you do!?"

"I'm sorry mummy!"

Neither Maria or her mother were talking. The voices came from somewhere else, though she recognized the voices to belong to the two of them. As they continued, Maria and her mother simply stared at each other.

"You made it MOVE!"

"M-Mummy, please!"

"Don't you DARE!"

Her mother now lifted her hand, slapping Maria right over the cheek, causing her to lose her balance.

"MUMMY!"

However, instead of falling to the floor, Maria found herself tumbling down a hill before landing on something wet and soft. She groaned, her neck hurting from the fall and as she lifted herself onto all fours, she let out a scream at the sight of what was underneath of her.

Bodies.

At least over fifty of them all piled up onto each other in the pit she had fallen. She recognized those who weren't too mutilated as her own victims. And as she screamed, moving towards the edges and trying to climb up, her nails breaking off as she did, her eyes landed on her father lying amongst the dead bodies, an arrow through his heart and his eyes wide open, staring at her.

"Please…" she cried. "Help!"

Steve's POV

He found himself face to face with a wall as he turned around at the sound of Maria's voice. He wasn't in the large room anymore and he wasn't standing on the dancefloor either. Behind him, he heard someone cry quietly. And he turned around again.

There, on a double-sized bed, which happened to be the only thing in the room apart from a window, sat Maria. She was the one crying.

Steve walked over to her quickly, crouching down in front of her and grasping her hands.

"Maria?" he asked to which she looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Do you love me?" she asked, her voice seeming to echo strangely.

"Of course I do."

More tears streamed down her cheeks as she smiled, taking one hand and placing it against his cheek lovingly. "Then stop."

Steve furrowed his brow. "Stop what?"

"Come with me… Stop being an Avenger. Let's go away somewhere and grow old together. Just you and me… Away from all the war."

Steve wanted to say yes even though he knew he would struggle. He'd do it for her. Though he couldn't say anything. It was like an invisible hand was holding his lips together while something else made his voice stop working.

Maria's face turned into one of horror at his lack of response to which Steve himself nearly wanted to cry. She retracted her hand away from him and pushed his other hand, which was still holding hers, off her.

"You don't love me…"

Again, Steve wanted to reply, though he couldn't. It almost started to physically hurt him not being able to reply.

"I knew it… You're using me. You've got the war, the fighting, keeping you from feeling not useful. And then me, the woman you use for whenever you need to have some 'fun'!"

She was hysterical at this point, something Steve had never seen before. She stood up, tears still streaming down her face. Steve also stood up, though was still unable to reply.

"You don't love me…" she whispered as she walked towards the now open window.

A horrible thought struck Steve and as he went to follow her, an invisible barrier held him in place, forcing him to stand back and watch as Maria, crying and heartbroken, walked over to the window-sill and stood up on it.

"You don't love me…" her voice was now a mixture of her own and Peggy's, only causing him even more physical pain.

"We can go home now."

She turned her head to look at him one last time and when the barrier was finally gone, letting Steve begin to run towards her; she jumped.

"MARIA!"

Maria's POV

A hand grabbed hers, lifting her out of the pit. Arms were wrapped around her, soothing her and calming her down. And before she knew it, the sight of the pit was gone and she was sitting in a bedroom. The arms had belonged to Steve, that she knew. Though they were gone now.

A door opened behind her, causing her to turn her head to see Steve standing in the doorway, looking down at her with a surprised look on his face.

"What are you doing on the floor?" he asked her.

"I-I-"

"Never mind," he said, waving her off, which already was odd.

She stood up, watching as Steve walked over to the bed, placing a bag on it and taking something out. As she had stood up, Maria noticed a wedding ring around her finger.

"So, I bought this for us," said Steve, walking back to Maria. "The woman behind the desk said this was the best test they had."

Maria looked down at what Steve was handing her and to her utter most shock and disbelief, it was a pregnancy test.

"What- Why are you giving me this?"

"Why do you think?" asked Steve amused.

"But- Steve, I can't… I can't have children."

Steve's smile dropped. The entire scenery changed. The light that had come from the window disappeared, darkness surrounding them now. Steve stared at Maria emptily. His hand still holding the pregnancy test.

"But… Why?"

"You know why, Steve," said Maria simply. "Please, don't do this-"

"Why did I marry you then!?"

Maria jumped back as Steve threw the pregnancy test to the floor in a fit of rage.

"Steve-"

"No!" he said, pointing a finger at her. "You're nothing to me. You're barren. I can't believe I ever wanted you."

Tears were streaming down her face again as Steve pushed past her, the darkness once again consuming her.

She was alone again. Afraid. Hurt…