Dorothy checked if she still had the drive before getting a med kit. She was tending to Nat's bullet wound with an absent mind while Bucky was readying to take flight. After she took care of Nat as best she could, she began to scrub at the dried blood that was caked on her skin and suit with a wet pad.
She was just then coming down from the adrenaline high she experienced in the Hydra base. What she truly did in there was starting to process in her mind, especially with the physical evidence of it covering her body.
Sam and Steve entered the quinjet in a hurry, Bucky closing the door behind them and taking off as soon as possible.
"What happened to you guys?" Sam asked.
"Natasha was shot, not fatal," Bucky answered, running a hand through his hair. "Dorothy did a great job in making sure we all got outta there."
"Did you get the information we needed?"
Dorothy took the drive out of her pocket and handed it to Sam, who shifted his attention from Nat to her.
"Dor-Dorothy! You're covered in blood, are you okay?" Sam hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder.
Steve looked at her, his eyes widening at the sight before him. She must've looked a wreck to have received that look from him.
She turned her head away, rubbing her cheek to hide her face. Shame filled her after Steve's look. "I'm not hurt."
She sat down and scrubbed at her face, the pad coming back dark red still. It made her wonder if she went too far.
This was why SHIELD never let her use her ax on missions. Because one time she did go too far and had to face drastic consequences. Though all was swiftly forgiven, it was not so easily forgotten. Dorothy herself never forgot.
Steve came and sat beside her, taking off his helmet to reveal his dirty face. "Are you okay?" his voice was low, quiet, and as always, understanding.
"I told you, I'm not hurt."
"I know that, I meant that you look... withdrawn."
He was looking at her with such earnestness. She didn't know what it was about the man, but she was quickly learning that it was hard not to tell him everything on her mind.
"I've done this before, Steve, but it was worse. I faced the repercussions, but this... this just brought it all back."
She put her head in her hands, tucking her knees to her chest. She wanted to take up as little space as possible, so she simply shrunk in on herself.
She could feel Steve shift beside her. "Can I touch you?"
Her heart jumped at the question. Not only because she longed for him to touch her, but because he asked for her permission. She knew it should be the bare minimum, but it was more meaningful to her than if she was in a more stable mindset. She also appreciated the fact that Steve read her so well that he knew she would rather be comforted than talk to him about the issue.
She lifted her head and leaned her body closer to his, nodding. "Yes, please."
Steve opened his arms wide and welcomed Dorothy into his arms. They were both beaten, dirty, and tired. They leaned on each other, for more than just physical support, until they got back to the Tower.
When the quinjet landed, Bucky carried Nat to the medical ward to be taken care of properly. Sam took one look at Dorothy and Steve and decided to leave them alone.
Several seconds passed before Dorothy peeled herself from Steve's side, standing up and gathering her gear so that she could avoid looking Steve in the eye.
"I should shower and go to sleep." She finally turned to him to see his response.
He gave her a longing look before standing up slowly. "Me too."
She nodded once and left to go inside the Tower.
She was emotionally numb as she stepped foot inside the hot shower, deep red flooding the floor and swirling down the drain. Her mind was elsewhere, though the location she did not know.
She didn't know how much time passed before she turned off the water and left the bathroom. Her fingers were pruned and it was difficult to breathe from the bathroom's humidity. She barely had the strength to get dressed for bed, but she eventually got a baggy shirt and sweatpants on. She fell asleep concerningly fast.
~~~~~~~
Dorothy woke up much later than usual, making her feel guilty about missing her morning run. She didn't feel up to it though, in fact, she didn't feel up to doing anything.
She sort of just laid in bed, looking at the words on her wrist and breaking down the meaning of them. It'd been a couple of months since they met, and it was only ereyesterday since she confessed to him that they were soulmates.
He was amazing. They weren't even together and yet he'd treated her so well because that's just what kind of person he was.
Like a scene from a movie, a knock came at the door. Dorothy sighed and reluctantly got out of bed, opening the door because she already knew who it was.
Steve stood outside her door with a small, polite smile on his face. "Hey, may I come in?"
She nodded, stepping aside and opening her door wider for him. He stepped in and turned to her.
"You've been excused from the debriefing. We thought you'd like to recoup after what you went through, but we'd like to get your input whenever you're ready."
"I appreciate that."
She left the door open by only a crack before going to sit on her bed with her feet on the floor, tapping the spot next to her to tell Steve to sit down there.
He did, and their thighs brushed. "Bucky told me everything that happened," he started in a soft, deep voice, knowing that she wasn't going to talk about the mission first. "How you saved Nat and took charge. How you fought your way out."
"It was the job–"
"It was more than that. You saved them." He took his hand in hers. "I wanted to thank you, and I wanted to tell you that you did good."
She shook her head while looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. "I lost control is what I did."
Steve thought for a second before saying, "I'm not going to tell you the method was right, but they were evil men, Dorothy. They hurt many people and their organizations continue to do so. You did the right thing given you, Natasha, and Bucky's situation."
She didn't say anything to that. Hearing Steve give her reassurance honestly did make her feel a bit better about the whole thing. There was just something about him that made her believe everything that came out of his mouth and she wasn't sure if that was a bad thing.
"Sometimes... sometimes we compromise in ways that make us not sleep so well, but we do it so that people can be free. With the information you got outta that base, we can free so many people, Dorothy. So many. And it's all thanks to you."
She took a deep breath and leaned on the inside of Steve's shoulder. He half-smiled and pulled her into his body, running his hand up and down her arm in comfort. His temple lay on top of her head. She just closed her eyes and relished in the feeling of safety he gave her.
"Thank you, Steve. For everything."
~~~~~~~
ESTÀS LLEGINT
American Mouth | S. Rogers x OC
Fanfiction(On hiatus) In a world where everyone had the first words their soulmate would say to them on their wrist, Dorothy Panzera thought her soulmate would never want her. But when she actually met him, that view turned upside down.
