He Came Back (Steve Rogers x OC)

Chapter 5

Steve rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I mean, there are empty bedrooms. I wouldn't presume that you'd stay in mine."

Cecilia gave him a soft smile before pulling him over to a bench and sitting down. He quickly followed suit and sat beside her. She pulled one leg up under her and shifted to face him, scooting close so they could maintain some privacy even in the open public place. "That's not exactly what I was asking Steve. I want to know–do you want me there?"

Steve sighed as he thought about what lay ahead for the team. "The next few days are going to be big. There are so many unknowns." He reached over and took her hand in his own. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you there. It may be selfish of me, but I want to spend as much time as I can with you, Ceci.I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but I hope you're in mine. Yeah, I want you there. I just don't want to mess this up, to make you think I'm rushing things."

"Steve–I don't feel like things are rushed. I may not know what you guys are planning. But I can tell from how you've been that it's big–that a lot is at stake. I think we can both agree with all that we've both lost in life, both five years ago and before that–we need to embrace good things when we find them. And this–what we have," she said as she squeezed his hand. "This is good. I think Nat was right. It feels like I've known you forever. This all feels so... natural. Don't you agree?"

Steve gazed into her eyes for a few more moments in silence before pulling her hand up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on it. "I absolutely agree."

"Then, with everything else there is to worry about in this world, let's have us be the thing we don't have to worry about. Let's embrace every moment we have together when we have it. We'll figure it out as we go along. For now– I'd love to spend some extra time with you... and maybe with Nat too. So how about we go back to my place and I'll pack an overnight bag?"

"That sounds great. But we're not done with our date yet. First, we finish our walk and have lunch. Then we'll head back to your place."

*****

Ceci came downstairs with her duffel bag packed. She found Steve standing in front of the painting of himself, hands tucked in his pockets as he stared at it thoughtfully.

"You look awfully deep in thought, Steve," she said quietly as she came up beside him, setting her bag down and wrapping her arms around his bicep. "Anything you want to talk about?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I still have nightmares about it sometimes–that day, five years ago. We fought so hard. And we lost. Thanos was just too strong."

"I would tell you that you can't blame yourself, but I'm sure you've heard that plenty of times over the past five years. We can't always win, Steve. Not even super soldiers."

Steve turned and she loosened her grip on his arm so that he could freely, then rested her hands at his waist. "We're going to try and fix it."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "How?"

"Time travel."

Ceci's eyes went wide. "Woah."

"We can't change what happened five years ago, but we're thinking maybe we can go back, get the stones before he does, and use them to get everyone back that we lost five years ago."

"Wow, that's... that's..."

"Crazy? Yeah, I know."

Ceci slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers together. "Well, yeah–crazy. But, there was a time when a lot of people would have said aliens coming through a portal into New York City was crazy, and yet it happened. As did an alien ship coming down out of the sky into New York. Oh yes, and half the world's population turning to dust So, time travel? Suddenly it doesn't seem so unbelievable."