In Your Eyes // Steve Rogers

In the Stars

And it was there, in Greece, in the temple of the Goddess Athena, that I felt her courage, and I called Steve. It was 4 o'clock in the morning for me and 11 o'clock in the morning for him. He answered immediately.

"Good morning, Clara," he said sweetly. I heard the smile in his voice. "Where's my postcard being shipped from today?"

"I'm going to marry you," I told him.

Steve didn't respond for several minutes. I imagined him doing a number of different things-- cheering or opening and closing his mouth trying to figure out what to say or cringing because he didn't want to anymore. In his silence, I went from being excited to absolutely dreading his response. Then, he finally said, "Yes."

I frowned. "What?"

"I-I, well, I've been trying to marry you for a long time. I was going to ask you before the falling out with Tony, I was going to ask you after we weren't fugatives anymore, but then everything happened so fast and I didn't have you anymore. I get you back, things have changed, but you've remained a constant. My love for you has. I just didn't know when to ask but I've wanted to, but then you left for your job, and I just didn't want to come off selfish to you to do it before you left, and--"

"Steve, stop. If anybody's selfish between us it's very clearly me. I'm always leaving you," I said quietly, ashamed. I took a seat between the pillars of the temple, my feet hanging off the edge.

"But you always come back," he was quick to say. "I told you I'd always wait. It didn't just mean waiting for you to come back. Waiting for you to find purpose through this grief has been hard, Clara, but now that we've done it together, I'm so proud of you. You're capable of great things on just Earth. You don't have to be exploring the universe to find purpose in your life."

"I don't know that I could've done any of this without you," I told him honestly. "When I had my powers, I felt like I was so far beyond Earth. I had a universe to explore. Adventures awaited. There were people who needed me. And I was going to give you up for it."

He sighed. "I told you I would have wait for you."

"That doesn't mean it was right. I chose the universe over you. It might've been right in the eyes of the greater good but..."

"You're here now. You chose me."

"I chose you because I lost the universe."

"I know," he said softly, sadly. "I know. I loved you and I was ready to let you go."

"Now you don't have to, ever," I told him. "When I come back, let's do it. I'll marry you. I want to be your wife."

Steve chuckled. "All right, Clara. I'll marry you, too. I'll be your husband."

I returned to New York a month after we decided we would marry. I landed the quinjet at the Compound, rolled my luggage down the ramp, and was surprised to see Steve awaiting my arrival.

He was dressed in a black tux and held up two rings in his fingers. "You think it's time?" he asked nervously.

I dropped my luggage. I ran at him and he held onto the rings carefully as saw me run at him. He caught me swiftly in his arms and hugged me back just as tightly as I held onto him. Kissing my head, he said, "We set up at the house."

I pulled back. "Who's we?"

Steve promised I would see when I arrived. He helped me throw my luggage into the backseat of his car and we drove back to our home. I saw the twinkling lights strung on the porch of our house from the road. Rose petals outlined our walk to the front door. Steve helped me out of my seat, our hands clasped together as we walked into our house.