The Captain America Love Story You Never Knew You Needed

Part 13

"Someone needs to talk to him."

Sam, Natasha, Vision, Wanda, and Rhodes were standing outside the gym. Steve had a look of furious concentration on his face. He was punching the bag as if his life depended on it.

"Poor Steve," Wanda lamented.

"Is he still upset by Ms. Chen's sudden departure on Friday?" Vision asked.

Just then, there was a sound of metal breaking. They turned to watch the punching bag fly off the hook and land with a thud across the room. Steve stared at the heap of sand before turning around to lift another bag. He attached it to the hook and got to punching again.

"I'll go talk to him," Sam said.

"Good luck," Rhodes called out.

Sam walked into the gym. "That sandbag must have really deserved it, huh," he commented, trying to find a way to disperse the tension.

Steve ignored him and continued punching.

"Look, man, you gotta talk to me. I'm worried about you."

At those words, he looked at Sam.

"I'm fine."

He went back to punching.

"You are not fine. I wouldn't be fine if the lady I loved left me."

Steve stopped punching. "I don't..."

He sighed, placing his hands down.

"You don't what?"

Steve sighed again.

"I don't know how I feel about her."

"Everyone can see you care about the girl."

Steve was silent. "Tony embarrassed her," he said after a moment, changing the subject.

"Embarrassed, how?"

Steve went back to punching the bag. Sam waited. He had learned to be patient when talking to Steve. There was more punching, and it was more heated this time. The bag started to leak sand.

"He asked her if we were sleeping together. At dinner on Friday in front of everyone."

Sam choked. Steve went back to the punching bag. There was nothing but his angry grunts for a few long moments.

"Look, man. Tony...is Tony. You knew Alina was his ex." Steve stared at Sam. Sam held up his hands. "I'm not saying what he did was okay. It wasn't. But you shouldn't expect the man to not put up a fight."

He looked at Sam, eyes flashing with anger. "Stark asked if our..." he gestured with his hands back and forth. "He asked if it was as good as theirs. Does that sound like a fair fight to you?"

Sam widened his eyes. "He said that in front of Pepper?"

"And Happy."

Steve took a mighty swing at the bag, and it rocked violently.

"That's messed up," Sam said. There was a long pause. "What did Alina do?"

"What was she supposed to do, Sam? She left. She had to preserve some modicum of pride after what Tony did."

Steve went back to the punching bag. The metal hook it was attached to started to whine. Sam let out a sigh. He knew Steve had returned from dinner the night before last, alone. The man had gone straight to his room and not come out until this morning in the gym. Alina, apparently, had left straight from the restaurant on Friday to J.F.K. airport. Her room was still full of her belongings when the staff had to clean it out last night.