Artemis : The Seventh Avenger ➳ Steve Rogers [1]

04 [ 04 ]

"No, I don't." I reply, "I've never fit in here."

"That's a lie and you know it, Nat." She says, shooting me a knowing look. "You like it here."

"The reason why I'm here is because I have red in my ledger-" I'm cut off before I get the chance to finish.

"And you want to wipe it out, I know." She looks at me, "Mistakes don't define us, Nat. It definitely doesn't define you."

"Yes, it does." I answer, "I'm not made for this 'saving the world' stuff that S.H.I.E.L.D deals with. I'm not a hero."

She hums thoughtfully at that, "And yet, you've saved my life over and over again."

"You're my Sister, Cam. It's my job." I state.

"No, it's not." She disagrees, "It's a choice you made to keep me safe, and it's these choices that you'll continue to make that defines you."

She claps a hand on my knee, "Stay, I'll be fine. It's only temporary. I'll be back before you know it." She reassures, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she stood up.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She pauses at the door, "Fury has this thing; an Initiative he's recruiting for. Do me a favour and take the job, will you?"

She smiles at me, "I love you, Nat. Don't worry, this isn't the end. We'll see each other again."

With that, she turns to leave. I flip open the file again, staring down at the words that made my heart ache even though I knew they weren't real; Agent Camille Romanoff, Deceased.

***

"You know, I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already." Steve's voice snaps me back to reality.

I quickly wipe off the tears that had welled up in my eyes, "Here to do your laundry?" I ask.

"And to see a friend." He says.

I clear my throat, "Clearly, your friend is fine."

Steve sighs, moving further into the room. "You know I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge."

"In the Hudson?" I asked.

"There's fewer ships, cleaner water." He states.

"You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side, I'm about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich." I joke, earning a smile from Steve.

He tosses his jacket over a chair, before taking a seat across from me. I push my plate over to him, offering him a slice of my sandwich.

"Sorry, force of habit." He says with a sigh, "You know, I keep telling everyone they should move on and grow. Some do...But not us."

"If I move on, who does this?" I ask, gesturing to the cluttered mess on my table.

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve replies.

I furrow my brows, my thoughts going back to the day that changed my life, the day I joined the Avengers.

"It used to be just Cam and I. My sole purpose in life was to take care of my baby sister." I say, "And then she had to go into hiding and I was left with nothing. Then I got this. This job, this family. And I was...I was better because of it."

I fill the sudden urge to burst out into tears, but I fight my tears back.

"And even though, they're gone. I'm still trying to be better." I continue, "Cam once said to me, 'it's the choices you make that defines you', and so I'm choosing to be better. That's what Cam would want me to do."

"Well, I can't argue with such wise words." He says, a fond smile spreading across his face, and yet his eyes are filled with pain.

I hum in agreement, "I sometimes can't help but feel like she should be the older Sister instead of me."

He smiles, shaking his head, "We both need to get a life." He says.

"You first." I reply smiling back at him, "Or are you still too caught up with my Sister?" I tease.

"Well, it's hard when nothing ever compares to your Sister." His smile grows wider, but I could still see the pain behind his eyes.

"Has Cam ever told you how she got the name 'Artemis'?" I ask, another memory from before suddenly popping into my mind.

He shakes his head, "It's amazing how much she hates that name." Steve laughs, "Every time I ask her about it she just glares at me."

I couldn't help but laugh too, "Sounds like Cam."

I lean forward in my seat, preparing for the storytelling, "Well, it was her first official mission as an agent. Clint was her supervising officer. He kept reminding her to bring an extra quiver and she got so excited she forgot." I laugh at the fond memories that had never failed to make me laugh.

"Fast forward to halfway through the fight, she got trapped in there with twelve men and had to fight her way out with just one arrow and a hunting knife that she managed to find and guess which Goddess uses the same weapons?" I ask for a more dramatic effect.

"Artemis." Steve mutters with a smile.

"Exactly. And somehow she got out of there with nothing more than a couple of small cuts and bruises. For the next couple of months, she was like a celebrity. All the agents looked up to her and she hated every second of it. Now, she carries her twin blades just in case she runs out of arrows. Lesson learnt, I guess." I chuckle.

"I don't know how she does it. Cam always manages to see things from different perspectives. She observes things that nobody ever would and she wears her heart on her sleeve. We're trained not to, but she does and she makes it work." I say, the tears threatening to fall again, "She's the kindest, smartest and toughest person I've ever met."

"She is." Steve agrees, his eyes starting to well up with tears as well.

I swallow the lump in my throat, "She didn't deserve to go."

Just as the words leave my mouth, a footage of the front gate pops up.

"H-hi! Is anyone home?" A familiar voice says, "This is Scott Lang. We met a few years back at the airport? In Germany? I got really big and I had a mask on. You wouldn't recognise me."

"Is this an old message?" Steve asks, standing up to take a closer look at the footage.

I join him, exchanging a confused glance, "It's the front gate."