Whatever It Takes || STEVE ROGERS [6]

[14]: 552 Hours

2018 ― Upstate New York
"You're home, Tony. You're safe."

Twenty-three days.

It's been twenty-three days since Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped half of the universe from existence. Katherine Rogers' son, Christian, and Natasha's twin sister, Nikita being part of the billions that lost their lives. She had been confined to the Avengers building ever since they got back from Wakanda. Steve had a hard time getting her to talk, eat, or really do anything. The loss of a child was every parent's fear.

Steve also couldn't get his daughter Amaya to really do much that didn't have to do with fighting. Where Katherine was devastated that her son was gone, Amaya was pissed her brother was dead. She wanted to find Thanos and kill him herself. She felt like part of herself died when Christian disappeared, and what made her even angrier is that the one person who understands how she feels, Wanda, is dead too.

Amaya channeled all of her anger into fighting. She was always either taking it out on a punching bag, the wall, or anything she could get her hands on. What also added to Amaya's frustration with that, learning that half of the world disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers, she had no idea whether Peter had survived the snap or not, and she was terrified of him being gone.

While Steve was trying to keep his wife and his daughter together, he couldn't even find the time to process his own grief of losing his son. He felt like he had to be strong for Katherine and Amaya, and for the rest of the Avengers in general when on the inside he felt like he was falling apart too.

He walked into his and his wife's bedroom to see Katherine was laying in bed like she has been doing since they returned from Wakanda. Her back was towards the door, and she was laying on the far end of the bed. Steve walked over and got down on his knees in front of her, seeing that her eyes were closed. He moved some of her hair back behind her ear and kissed her forehead. When he attempted to stand up, Katherine grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Hey... I'm right here." He whispered as she slowly opened her eyes. The sight broke Steve's heart. They were puffy, red, and he could tell she had been crying for the majority of the morning. Katherine grabbed his hand and squeezed it, feeling like the words she wanted to say had been caught in the back of her throat and she couldn't make it out.

She brought his hand up to her side, and Steve heard her sniffle. "Will you please lay with me?" She whispered. Her voice was hoarse and broken from the crying. Steve nodded his head, standing up from the ground without dropping her hand, as Katherine scooted over to allow room for her husband to get in bed next to her. Steve wrapped his arms tightly around his wife, holding her close to him, as he ran his fingers down through her hair and down her back in a repeated motion.

"We're going to get him back, Kath..." Steve whispered to her. Words that seemed like they were impossible to Katherine, and she shook her head.

"How? He's gone... our...-our son is dead. And Nikita, she...-" Katherine trailed off, she couldn't even bear to say it.

"We're going to get them back," Steve whispered again, kissing the top of her head.

"What if we don't?" She asked. She looked up at her husband and she could see the pain in his eyes, she could also see that he was trying to mask it. He was trying to stay strong, and she knew exactly who he was trying to stay strong for. He was trying to do it for her.

"We will." He said.

"Steve... you don't have to hide your pain... not from me." She whispered to him, laying her hand on his cheek. She saw his eyes begin to glisten with tears, before she nodded her head, encouraging him to just let it out. Steve laid his head down on top of Katherine's when he tucked her head onto his chest as his tears began to fall. Katherine could hear his sniffles and she hugged his torso tightly.