Trust Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 24

AMERICA'S POV

I bite my lip as I stare at my wardrobe. Natasha's been asking me for weeks about getting back into training. Not in a mean way, more like reminders. I haven't really run since I came back to Avengers Tower. It all seems like too much. But I kind of want to take her up on her offer. I'm so sick of being afraid, and I don't want to be a deadweight to the team, not when they've been so kind to me. I pull on leggings and a red crop top, braiding my long hair back. When I look at myself in the mirror, I almost gasp. With the crop top, it's easy to see how bad all of my scars are. They streak across my back from the whip. I do remember that. They look awful.

There's a moment where I want to go change, to hide myself. But I don't. For better or for worse, this is me, and I might as well start working to accept that. I head to the kitchen.

"Hey Steve," I say, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek from behind.

"Hey, doll." He smiles. As I snag an apple from the bowl on the counter, I can feel his eyes on me, but when I turn around, he quickly looks away, a faint blush creeping up his neck.

"You're cute, you know that?" I ask, grinning cheekily. "You have any plans today?"

"It's my turn on patrol, I'm paired with Clint, so that'll take up most of my day. You?"

"I'm heading down to train with Natasha."

He brightens. "Really? That's great. I'm proud of you, Mer."

"Thanks, Steve." He pulls me into a hug. "I better get going. See you tonight!"

I run to the elevator and ask Jarvis to take me to the training room. He cheerfully obliges, and my fingers buzz impatiently at my sides. I could have been down there already if I had just taken the stairs. With my crop top, I can easily read the three names tattooed onto my side. One is no longer a mystery, but the other two, Annika and Valeria, are still completely unknown to me.

The elevator doors slide open, and I step out onto the mats. Natasha looks over from the punching bag, surprised that I showed up. I still am, honestly.

"You came," she says. "Hi."

"Hey." There's an awkward moment between us. "I wasn't sure I was going to come, either."

"Well, if I were you, I'd get tired of all of that testosterone up there. There's a reason I practically live down in the gym." She winks, and I laugh. "It's good to have another girl living in the tower, let me tell you."

"I can only imagine."

"You look tired," she comments. I am. I couldn't sleep at all last night. Maybe two hours at the most. Dreams about a laughing boy with blonde hair and being trapped under a bed kept me up. I don't even know if it was real or not. It's getting harder to draw the line between reality and fiction. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure, actually," I reply, glancing around.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Maybe." I raise my eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"Why did you come down here?" She asks. "Not in an offensive way at all, but I didn't think you'd get back to fighting for a while. No one would blame you, either."

I sigh. "I found out what the news was saying about me a few days ago. It hurt a lot, but I realized the only way to change the headlines is to prove them wrong. And the only way to do that is to become a good member of the team. So now I'm here."

"I'm sorry about all that, by the way," she says, sighing. "We shouldn't have kept it from you."

"It's okay."

"I like how you're handling it, though. You're stronger than you think, America."

I like that. I'm stronger than I think. If I keep repeating it to myself, maybe I'll believe it.

"Let's spar, then," she says, expertly changing the subject. "Stretch out." I do as she says, loosening my muscles. I start by twitching my fingers back and forth so fast it looks like they're vibrating, then move to the rest of my body. It's a good way for me to wake up my abilities a bit.

"Have I fought you before?" If I did, I don't have any memory of it, so I'm going to have to pay close attention to her fighting style if I'm going to find weaknesses.

"Yes."

"Did I win?"

"No."

"That doesn't really make sense."

"No, it doesn't. You won. Twice." We both laugh. "Sorry, I thought I'd give that one a try."

I grin. "I don't want you to go easy on me."

"I wasn't planning on it," she replies, tilting her head sideways. "So you and Steve, huh?" I blush.

"Yeah, he-" With quick motions, she expertly kicks my legs out from underneath me. My back smacks the floor, momentarily knocking the wind out of me. I cower and dodge a blow. "I wasn't ready!"

"The world won't ask if you're ready. Why would I?"

"True." I roll out from underneath her and get back up on my feet quicker than she can react. "I appreciate you not babying me."

"No problem," she huffs, aiming another punch at me. I duck. "It's no fun when you take it easy."

We fall out of conversation as the fight gets rougher. For a while, we seem evenly matched. I'm quicker than her, but she's more practiced. Sweat trickles down my back but I'm not tired at all. Maybe I'll just outlast her. I do have more stamina. My bigger problem is I can't find any of her weaknesses to end this quickly. She's constantly moving, blocking, and watching, never tearing her eyes away from me.

"How are you so good?" I finally get our, narrowly dodging her fist.

"I learned from you."

"How convenient for me," I say. She tilts her head and grins before blocking my arm with her own. We struggle against each other for a minute, which gives me the chance to kick her leg. She stumbles onto one knee. "Was this it?"

"All right, yield." I offer a hand and pull her up. "That was really good. We could have you active for the team whenever you feel like you're ready."

"That's great. You did a good job, too." I brush reddish flyaway curls out of my face. "That was fun."

"What do you say we get cleaned up and spend the day in the city?" She suggests. I hesitate.

"Nat, I haven't been out of the tower since you guys saved me. If the press got wind that we were out-"

"Who cares about them?" she asks, grinning. "You deserve to live like a normal person, too. Come on. We'll go have some fun. Maybe see a movie, go shopping, go to a baseball game. Whatever you want."

I smile. "Okay."

I love Nat and America's friendship. Any predictions for the book?