What Are We? Romanogers

13. Days In SHIELD

She took a few sips of water from her bottle and sat next to him, of course keeping some space between them. " So...is Captain America back to his duty?"

Steve raised his eyebrow," Not yet. "

She nodded," Heard you lost so much blood during surgery and it was critical. But you seem...kind of fine?"

He chuckled," Well, my condition got critical because of my serum and I'm healing fastly because of it as well. " They went silent for a moment. " How was your mission?"

She nodded," Good. It means, success. " She eyed him and noticed his eyes narrowed, catching her humor. " And I'm back without any injury. "

He raised his eyebrow seeing her smirk," Really?" He huffed looking away but couldn't hide the smile.

Again, there was a comfortable silence. She kinda liked it, he's not some talkative guy. Another interesting info.

" When are you leaving again?"

His question caught her off guard. Leaving?. Oh," Don't know. Waiting for Fury's order. "

He nodded with a sigh," Apparently I can't return to field for one month more. Hill says they won't give me clearance. "

She chuckled on his annoyance," Good for you. Besides, America can't see it's hero in trouble so of course they'd be concerned. "

He rolled his eyes," Please, not you too now. "

She narrowed her eyes," What?"

He looked at her, trying hard to find a glimpse of the old Aliana. " Why would you think I'm some hero? While I'm clearly not that?"

His tone held some different emotion now she couldn't put her finger on. " Because you are a hero. Everyone knows what you've done. You hijacked a fighter jet and saved your team and your country, sacrificed yourself for others. "

He shook his head looking down," That was anything but sacrifice. " He sighed then chuckled lightly," I don't think you'd enjoy the story of my biggest failure. "

Again, he's developing an unknown spark inside her. Curiosity. She wants to know and talk about him more. But she couldn't ask him personally when they've no common ground. She just nodded," Yeah, I'm not into boring stuffs. "

" You should go home now then. "

She smirked at him," Don't downgrade yourself, Captain. I don't find you boring."

He nodded with a chuckle," That's good to know. "

She nodded and stood up, collecting her duffle bag. She looked at him one last time before leaving," Glad to see you fine, Captain. " His eyes met hers and she walked away with a nod.

And Steve kept looking at her for a long time. God, how badly he wants to talk to her like old times. How badly he wants her to remember him.

But he knew it won't do any good. If she remembers him, she's to go through the past traumas. Whatever Red Room had put her into, he didn't want to remind her those horrible incidents.

So now he's decided. He wouldn't tell her about themselves. He wouldn't let her find out about those days. He didn't want her to hate him now knowing he'd caused all the miseries for her. Because of him, she had to bear the torture in Red Room. So he was sure to bury those memories. It hurts. But it's okay. He wouldn't let her get hurt. He owed her this much.

Next couple of weeks, he'd avoided any possible meeting with her. Recently Clint invited him to join them for a night tour outside, but he declined. He even refused to start training with Clint.