Rewritten 2018

Make You Feel My Love ~Book II~

Disclaimer: I do not own The Winter Soldier movie! All rights go to Marvel. All I own is my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 26~
Don't Be

She hadn't been prepared for it. In fact, she had been prepared only for one thing; victory. It hadn't even crossed her mind that she might actually fail.

Had she even had a plan when she confronted him? What was it she wanted to gain? An apology? An apology wasn't going to make up for her pain, it wasn't going to make her feel any better and it wasn't going to give back all those years she had wasted on him. And it most certainly wasn't going to bring back her grandmother.

Oh… her grandmother hadn't even been something she had thought about when she confronted him. Where was Maria going to get money to keep her alive now?

A cough escaped her mouth, a thick fluid filling her throat and causing her breathing to become more labored. She was vaguely aware of the fact that her leg was bent in a strange angle, though her struggle to breathe made her focus entirely on that and nothing else.

Her mind was still judging her, making her feel regret about what she had put herself in. Her eyes fluttered up towards the roof she had fallen from and she wondered how she was still alive. It had been at least a five story fall and it was impossible to survive something like that.

Her hand moved over her stomach, her mind clearing slightly and telling her to assess what her injuries were. Everything seemed fine, until her fingertips brushed against something metallic sticking out of her lower abdomen. As her mind realized what had happened, the pain registered and she cried out, tears springing to her eyes.

She was lying in an alley, junk spread all around her; old chairs, tables and other furniture no one wanted anymore. Just like, apparently, nobody wanted her anymore.

She knew that it was a place popular amongst the homeless, though she saw no one else around her that evening. She was all alone, lying on the cold ground of an empty alley in Hell's Kitchen, only the faint moonlight shining down on her; the few streetlamps that stood there not working anymore.

"Maria!?"

The voice made her tense, which in turn made her entire body ache and sting; causing another cry of pain to leave her lips, something warm and wet rolling down her chin.

"Oh my God…"

Artur's face appeared in front of her. He was leaning over her, looking down at her with a fearful look on his face. He placed a hand on her cheek, tears seeming to spring up into his eyes which confused her. Had it not been he who had pushed her over the edge? Was this not his work? Was he not proud as he usually was?

She smirked at the sight of his cheek bleeding heavily from the scratch she had given him. From the looks of it, it would scar and cause his pretty little face to look ugly. At least, that was what she hoped. At least that was something good that had come from this whole incident.

"Don't worry… I've got you, baby."

Her eyes fluttered open, the light of the lamps above her shining right in her eyes and causing her to be temporarily blind. Her ears registered a strange beeping sound and it took her only a few seconds to realize that it was the beeping from a heart monitor. For a minute, she thought she had fallen asleep beside her grandmother again, though she soon realized that the past year had not been a dream.

She was an Avenger.

And her grandmother was dead.

When her eyes finally had gotten used to the light, she looked around the room. It was empty, though there were signs of people having been there. On the small table next to her bed, she saw a vase filled with her favorite flowers; red roses, along with a small card resting against the vase. Next to the card, a small teddy bear stood, holding a heart in his paws with a small, white text printed on it:

Get well soon!

With a grunt, she sat up, placing a hand against her ribs as they stung, seeming to poke her lungs and causing her to cough. When she had calmed down, she managed to wiggle her legs away from the sheets before shifting so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. With shaking hands, she grabbed the card and read it:

Although we know you're going to be okay, we wanted to send you something so you don't feel completely forgotten.

- Tony and Bruce

She smiled, placing the card back against the vase before letting her fingertips brush over the petals of one of the roses. The soft feeling of them made her smile even more before her mind started to think about the past events. The last thing she remembered was her and Artur cowering on the floor of the helicarrier as it exploded. After that; nothing.

"Clint just left."

Maria gasped, looking over at the doorway where the voice had come from. There, Natasha was standing, smiling at her.

"He was pretty worried."

"What happened?" asked Maria.

"I told him not to buy you a teddy. You're a tough woman, not a girl," she continued, not answering Maria's question as she walked over to her, sitting down next to her on the bed. "We now have proof of that too."

When Natasha looked over at Maria, seeing her questioning look, she sighed and nodded her head. "We found you in the water amongst the wrecks of the helicarriers. You were torn up pretty badly," she said. "Broken ribs… fractured skull…"

Maria looked down at her hands, feeling slightly uncomfortable for some reason. Perhaps it was the fact that she could survive such heavy injuries which was something she wasn't used to. Though it felt as though it was something else; a question that was itching to be asked.

"Did we do it?" asked Maria, the uncomfortable feeling still not gone. "Is Hydra gone?"

"I don't know if they're completely gone… But we know that they can't use SHIELD as a mask anymore. Because SHIELD's gone," said Natasha. "Everything's out now."

"Everything…" sighed Maria.

The people now knew who she was. They had seen her before, fighting against Loki's army on the Avengers' side and the papers had even managed to realize that she was the one fighting crime during the night in Hell's Kitchen. But now they actually knew who she was; what she had done.

However, as Maria looked over at Natasha again, she saw the same expression on her face as Maria knew she must have on her own face. Then it hit her, it wasn't just Maria who would be hit by this. Natasha had done some bad things in her past as well; before she became an agent for SHIELD.

"Stark is dealing with the legal bits. Getting us both out of trouble. To the world, Fury is still dead so he can't help. But there may be some anonymous help being sent Stark's way."

"We'll get through it," said Maria, making Natasha look over at her. "Just gotta… walk like we own the place while everyone gets used to it."

Natasha smiled, nodding her head. She seemed to believe it as little as Maria believed her own words.

"Steve's alright… right?" asked Maria, still trying to find which question it was that was making her feel uncomfortable.

"Yes. But I don't think he has woken up yet. We found him at the side of the lake. Someone had pulled him out," she replied.

Quickly, Maria removed the wires that were attached to her chest and wrist, causing the heart monitor to freak out. Natasha rolled her eyes, standing up and turning the machine off before watching Maria as she slowly stood up, forcing her legs to work even though they felt weak.

"I'm still healing…" said Maria with a sigh before reaching out her hands towards Natasha; almost as though she was a little child wanting to be picked-up by its parents.

Natasha grabbed her hands and helped her up to her feet. Intertwining her right arm with Maria's left, she steadied her before starting to walk towards the doorway. Steve's room was right next to Maria's which Maria felt relieved about. Moving that much was rather tiring and she - even though they'd only been walking for a minute - craved to sit down on a nice comfy chair already.

Sam was sitting next to Steve, smiling at the super soldier who seemed to just have woken up. A nice, calming tune was being played from an IPod and on the small table next to Steve's bed, there was a vase with flowers and a small card as well.

Sam stood up, helping Maria to sit down on the chair where he had been sitting earlier. Although she had protested, saying that he didn't have to move or help her, she felt relieved about being able to sit and not having to use her own body too much. Everything still hurt.

Steve looked at her with a soft smile playing on his lips, not even a trace of worry in his eyes even though she groaned out of pain nearly the entire time that she had been placed in the chair.

"I'm not exactly dressed but… I wanted to make sure you're alright," said Maria, looking down at the hospital gown she was wearing. Was she wearing underwear? She wasn't quite sure…

Her feet were cold after the short walk to Steve's room and as she saw Natasha and Sam exit the room, she contemplated asking them to bring her some socks to wear.

"It's fine," he said with a croaky voice, the soft smile still on his lips. "How are you?"

"Freaking peachy." Maria brushed his question off easily. But when she leaned forwards to grab his hand and let out a groan of pain at the movement, Steve gave her a pointed look and she had to give in in front of him. "I will be… And you?"

"I've felt better," he replied. "But we did it."

Maria smiled, nodding her head and grabbing his hand. "Yeah… we did. Was he there?"

"Yes…" said Steve, his soft smile faltering slightly. "But I think he recognized me at the end… Because he stopped. He hesitated."

She squeezed his hand slightly; "That's good. That's progress. But he's not here…"

"No… He's not. But I will find him. He's been there for me for as long as I can remember. Now, it's time for me to help him," said Steve, earning a nod from Maria.

"And I'll be there next to you the whole way."

Steve's smile disappeared as she said this and it caused worry to appear in the pit of her stomach. Did he not want her to join him in his search for his best friend?

"How did it go for you?" asked Steve, his serious look back again.

"Artur was there," she replied, looking down at their intertwined hands. "He didn't want to kill me…"

The uncomfortable feeling pressed itself up to the surface of her feelings again and she slowly lifted her gaze to look at Steve again. "I suppose you don't know… But… do you think he made it?"

Steve seemed taken aback by her question and he stared into her eyes for a while, his gaze seeming to soften as he saw the real worry she held inside of her for Artur. He knew that she still cared for Artur slightly and although it annoyed him, he was not going to make a fuss about it.

"Maria… we're the only ones here," said Steve.

The uncomfortable feeling inside of her vanished and turned into a feeling of pure horror. Yes, she had been ready to hear it. But she didn't quite want it to be real. There were no feelings there for him anymore because Steve had taken all of them, but there was still a place in her heart for Artur… a small place, one that confused her and upset her… though without him she would not be alive; without him she would not be the fighter she was today; without him she would not have met Steve… how could she not have a place in her heart for him?

She tried to pry her hand away from Steve, wanting to walk away and not show Steve the tears that were threatening to spill over Artur. After all, Artur was her ex-boyfriend and she didn't quite know how Steve felt about her reacting like that over him. Especially since he was, essentially, the enemy. However, Steve held onto her hand tightly and as she looked up into his eyes, she saw what he meant with the strong grip he had on her:

Don't push me away.

Her arm relaxed and as the tears appeared in her eyes, she leaned forwards and rested her head against Steve's strong arm, ignoring the pain in her ribs and neck as she did this. As a tear fell down her cheek, Steve's other hand rested on top of her hair, letting his fingers comb through it in a soothing way.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," replied Steve quietly. She sobbed for a while, his fingers combing her hair soothingly until she had calmed down. Lifting her face up from his arm, she remained sitting in that position as she continued to calm herself down. It was not until Steve gently placed a finger underneath of her chin that she looked over at his face again. There, all she could find was understanding and comfort.

Those blue eyes…

Those strong jawlines…

She stood up, once more ignoring her pained body. And with one last tear sliding down her cheek, she leaned over the bed, resting one arm on the pillow next to Steve's head as she gently placed a kiss to his forehead. She saw faintly how he closed his eyes at the gesture, one hand coming to a rest on her waist.

"You're the love of my life, you know that right?" she whispered against his forehead, lips brushing against his skin as she spoke.

He tilted his head slightly, causing her to shift so their noses were touching. Steve's deep blue eyes looked directly into her green eyes, the hand on her waist slowly moving up her body to rest on her neck, a thumb tracing the outline of her jaw. She shivered at his touch, not the cool air touching her exposed back.

"And you are mine…"