I Promise.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Chapter 33
Present day: 07/22/11
"Steve, get up." Natasha was shaking me awake. I guess I was just crying in my sleep again. It's been happening pretty frequently. Last night, Natasha decided to sleep over. She was missing Clint and wanted someone to keep her company, something that frequently happens.
"I'm up. I'm up." I say to her. It reminded me a lot of Winnie, her shaking me awake when I used to live in her house. Of course, now I'm a 27 year old man and shouldn't have to be shaken awake, but here we are. I hop off the bed and make my way towards the mirror. My eyes are red and my skin is blotchy, an identification that I was indeed crying.
"You should come out tonight. I think we could both use a distraction." Natasha put her arm around me. I still haven't grown, but Nat and are around the same height. Everyone else puts their hands on my head and uses me as an armrest, but she always holds my waist.
"I'll think about it. I really will this time." I respond. I never really go out too often. The only one who successfully gets me out of the house often is Bucky, and he isn't here. In fact, he hasn't been here in a year and a half, and neither has Clint.
"We really want you there. Sam will pick you up at 6:00. There's no getting out of this one buddy." She says while slapping my back. She made her way towards the door and guided herself out. I was alone once again.
There's only so much you can do while being alone. I work Mondays through Fridays, and I allow myself to not work on weekends. I've become a pretty successful artist, to my own surprise. Because of this, I've been pretty lucky my adult life. It started off rough, but now Bucky and I have our own house. We've been living in it for about ten years, or really, I've been living in it for ten years. Buck is always away for work. I think the longest he's been home is only a year. It's a pretty odd situation to say the least. He works for a special government agency named "S.H.I.E.L.D" ran by Natasha's adoptive father, Nick Fury. Normally people don't take amputees, but Bucky was a special case. Howard made him an implantable prosthetic that connected to his shoulder and functioned like a normal arm, besides the fact that it was metal. It was strange at first, but Bucky got used to it and eventually so did everyone else. Bucky has always been interested in the military, but when Nick told him he was scouting for S.H.I.E.L.D he was instantly intrigued. He works there as an undercover sniper, along with Clint and Natasha's sister Maria Hill. They went in on a buddy system agreement. Because of this, it's left Natasha and I pretty lonely. Most of my days I spend at work, or with her. I don't think there's ever been a week that I'm not with her. I used to go by Winnifred's to keep me company, but she passed away a couple years ago due to lung cancer. Bucky wasn't even there to go to her funeral. I try to write Bucky as frequently as I can, but he barely ever responds. It's sad, but I understand his job. He's always on the move. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, completely distracting me from my thoughts. I opened my phone to see Sam calling me. I must have lost track of time.
"I'm outside. Get your ass in the car, man." Sam says to me. I let out a small chuckle.
"Alright. Just let me grab my wallet. I'll be out in a second." I go in my room to grab my wallet. I bend down to my nightstand drawer to take it, and then I notice something off. My necklace isn't dangling from off my my neck.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." I feel myself starting to panic. I've worn this necklace since I was 17. I don't think I could go anywhere without it. I start frantically looking around my room, then hear Sam honking. I take a deep breath and walk out of my room and walk outside of my house.
"Took you long enough." Sam said before looking at my face. I guess I look a little shaken up.
"I can't find the necklace, Sam." I breathe out.
"Shit. You need help?" He asks. I nod my head no. I don't need to waste anymore time.
"I'll be fine. Let's just go." I say, leaning my head against the window.
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"Are we there yet?" Clint whines next to me. He's been doing this for the past four hours.
"Clint, it's a private jet, not a limousine." Maria groans. I think he's driving the both of us insane.
"Are we there yet?" Clint whines again. Maria and I both look at each other in agreement, and slap his legs.
"Ow! That hurts, you know!" He yells out. I'm surprised the pilot hasn't crashed the plane because of us yet.
"Sometimes I wonder why my sister married you." Maria says, placing her head in her hands. If I spend one more minute on this plane I'm going to lose my mind.
"Speaking of marriage," Clint starts to say, "How are you doing over there, Buck?"
"Great, if you'd shut the fuck up." I respond. This earns me a laugh from Maria, and an angry and hurt look from Clint.
"Yeah, yeah. Very funny. But seriously, you look like you could vomit." Clint says. He isn't wrong, I feel like I could puke at any moment. I haven't seen Steve for a year and a half. I've barely spoken to him. How will I know he'll say yes?
"Plane sickness. I hate planes." I choke out.
"Quit acting like such a hard ass. It's okay to be scared sometimes." He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"We'll be there for you either way, soldier." Maria says. I can see the S.H.I.E.L.D tower in the distance. I've never been more scared to go home.

"Okay, gross? Get off of each other." Maria says, mimicking the sound of someone vomiting. I join her in the vomiting noise events.
"Oh shut up! I'm sure Bucky boy will be doing a lot more tonight." Natasha says in a singsong voice. Maria starts her vomiting noises again. Normally I'd be pissed off at her, but I haven't seen her for so long. She's changed drastically over the past ten years. She runs a little dancing school with Pepper, and works with little kids all day, which is strange considering she used to hate kids.
"Very funny, Nat. Speaking of which, did you get the necklace?" I ask. She immediately digs in her pocket and tosses it to me. I take the ring off the chain of the necklace. She then tosses me a ring box and tells me to put it in. I never imagined my engagement to have so many helpers.
"You better be grateful. Apparently he's been freaking out in Sam's car." Natasha responds and motions us to follow her. While I'm gone, I always keep my own car in the S.H.I.E.L.D garage, with Natasha occasionally running it so the battery doesn't die. I thought it would be dumb to take two different cars home after tonight, so I asked Sam to drive Steve. Plus it's a Tony Stark party, so I'm always nervous about the outcome of those. I don't drink, so I could always be a designated driver.
"Well, I think he'll be a little less freaked out once he realizes why it's gone." I chuckle. We each start making our way to our cars. Natasha and Clint are of course together, and I'm taking Maria with me. I wouldn't want to be in their car either. God knows what's gonna happen in there. Anxiety immediately courses through me. I just hope he says yes to me, that's all I've ever wanted.