Until I Found You

seven

~ STEVE ~

I'm not exactly sure how long I was out walking. It couldn't have been less than a few hours, given the plethora of daylight streaming through the windows as I head back into the lobby of the tour. Somehow still, it hadn't been enough.

I walked in every direction, through every winding curve of Central Park and more, but each step felt more wrong than the next. It was an odd and unfamiliar sensation that could only be explained by the newfound discovery of my soulmate. Apparently now that I knew who she was, and more importantly where she was, my body had created a new internal broken compass that failed to point north, and instead directed me back to her.

I had hoped in time that it would fade, that with each step the distance might help me to forget. It had been a foolish and pointless endeavor in the end, and eventually I am forced to give in, and make my way back to the tower. If walking away couldn't make this feeling disappear, I was going to have to face it head on. That was the only way I'd be able to move past this.

The minute I enter the tower, I'm greeted by a tired looking Tony and a thoroughly aggravated Natasha.

"You happy now?" She says, slamming a folder of papers into my chest.

"What do you mean?" I ask trapping them with my hand before they can fall.

"You just had to stomp off like a two year old instead of treating this situation like an adult. For a man who is over a hundred years old you're so goddamn immature." She snaps, glaring at me.

I turn to Tony in confusion, not at all understanding what she was getting at.

"We're having trouble getting the girl to cooperate." He fills in, punctuating the statement with a big yawn. "Can you two handle this without a mediator? I'm already late to my date with Pepper."

Nat doesn't respond. She just continues to stare daggers in my direction. I look to him and shrug.

"Nobody told me employing super-heroes required a full-time live-in babysitter." He exhales dramatically as he walks off. "I need a raise."

Nat crosses her arms, her foot tapping on the marble floor.

"So the girl's not cooperating?" I ask, tilting my head towards the interrogation room.

"You should have been here." She demands. "We needed you to talk to her and you just left. Now she's holding back, not telling us everything she knows."

"How is that my fault?" I argue back. "There's no telling that she would have been any more receptive to me than to anyone else."

"For crying out loud Rogers, she's your soulmate!" She shakes her head. "Of course she would have been more receptive to you! It's in her freaking DNA to be more receptive to you!"

I toss the folder on table without looking at it. I already know what it is, and I have no desire to open it at the moment. It's difficult to force myself to stay calm. I'm at the end of my rope, and am having a hard time holding on anymore with its loose ends and withered strings.

"Do you need me to go talk to her now?" I offer, evenly.

"I needed you to talk to her hours ago." She pushes, unrelenting.