t h i r t e e n
*•.*
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Geneva questioned from where she laid on the dark training room mat.
"That was you getting your ass handed to you my friend," Clint let out triumphantly, as he dug his heel further into her chest.
Geneva rolled her eyes, hooking an arm behind his leg, making him stagger for a second. She jumped lightly to her feet. "Clint, you haven't handed me a damn thing." She paused, listening for a moment. "I'm talking about that noise."
There was booming music coming from the floor below them; Tony's lab.
"JARVIS, can you please tell Tony to turn that down just a little?" Geneva asked into the room. The AI replied instantly assuring her that he would. Seconds later the music went to a respectable volume. Suddenly, Clint's phone rang.
Geneva watched him as he jogged to answer it. He looked at his phone. "I've got to take this."
Gen wondered who it was, but didn't question him. "We can call it a day."
He threw up a peace sign, as he exited the training room.
Geneva turned away from the door, letting her mind wander. She felt something though, and her hand immediately went to the knife at her belt. She wrapped it in her left hand, and turned, pressing it against the throat of the person behind her. When her eyes met a pair of blue ones, she let the knife clang to the ground. "You scared me."
"You didn't look too scared," Steve said with raised eyebrows, his expression was, unsurprisingly, unaffected. "You carry a knife?" He bent down to pick it up, twirling it lightly in his hand. The black handle glinted under the white light of the room.
"I trust you all, if that's what you're asking. I just can't find it in me to let all my old habits go." Not to mention, the many people who worked in this building who she did not know. Geneva could never be too sure. She was good at reading people, but she hadn't been able to see through the people who were actually HYDRA hidden in SHIELD. Maybe she'd felt a little uneasy before the "death" of Nick, but she hadn't really suspected that it was faked.
And no, as much as she hated to admit it, she had no idea Rumlow was working against them until the last second. She didn't like him, but she didn't like too many people anyway. Maybe she was hard at trusting.
Geneva plucked the knife from his hands with a smile. "Why are you sneaking up on me?"
"Not sneaking, just observing."
Geneva gave him a look. "Well since you're here, you can help me with knives."
Steve's brows raised once again. "You need help?"
"Well sure. I'm learning new things." She moved to the various mock weapons to the left of the training room. "I'll use a fake one don't worry."
"What do you need me to do?"
Geneva moved to stand before him. "Try to disarm me, that's all."
"Isn't this the first thing you learned all those years ago?"
"No. First thing I learned was to forget my emotions. Pretend they didn't exist." She said, her voice cooler than she'd intended.
"Sorry," he let out quickly, but she was already shaking her head.
"Don't be." She pretended to stab his shoulder. "One."
Steve lightly pushed her hand away. "That didn't count."
She chuckled, taking a few steps away from him. "You heard me count it didn't you?" She moved to stab him once again, but this time he caught her wrist. His grip was tight enough to keep her hand there but not tight enough to actually hurt her. He moved her arm behind her back, forcing her to turn around. "Not going easy on me I see."
"That would be a disservice to myself," he said into her ear.
Gen smiled, letting the mock knife at her opposite wrist tap his stomach "Two."
"You fight dirty," Steve let out, breathless. He released her and she faced him once again.
"I fight to win."
Steve moved to her, light on his feet. They fought each other for the knives for a few seconds and when that proved futile he went to grab her. She ducked, kicking Steve's legs out from under him. It was always the legs, Geneva thought, laughing.
She jumped onto him, pinning him down and putting the fake knife to his throat like she'd done earlier. "Three. You're out." She smiled, looking into his darkened eyes. "Someone's distracted, that was too easy."
Their faces were too close Geneva realized. His breathing was labored, and they'd barely done anything to warrant it. Their eyes searched each others.
He'd went easy on her, she knew that, but it seemed that he hadn't meant to. The truth was that she didn't need him to anyway.
She felt Steve move his arm, gently pushing her hand away from his neck. Then he tapped the middle of her chest three times, saying, "One, two, three you're out." Her eyes darted down. In his hand was her real knife, the one that'd been hidden under her shirt.
Geneva gasped in mock shock, leaning back, but still hovering over him. "Captain, you've outsmarted me." She leaned back down, putting her lips next to his ear. "Too bad you'd already be dead."
She then moved away, a fit of uncontrollable laughter descending upon her. Seeing his wide eyed look made her laugh even harder, tears leaking out from her eyes.
"I'm glad I amuse you."
She sighed letting her laughter die out. "Louis wants to see me," Gen said suddenly. She could feel Steve looking at her.
"Do you want to see him?"
"No. I don't have anything to say to him." Geneva paused, sitting up. "But he's dying." She tried to maintain an air of nonchalance but the words affected her more than she cared to admit. She didn't understand how she still gave a damn about someone who'd hurt her so much.
"Is that a good enough reason for you to go and see him?"
"There isn't a good enough reason in this world to go and see him," she let out with a huff. She pushed her dark hair out of her face. It'd grown longer and after years with shorter hair she had to admit that cutting it was a great decision. "But maybe I don't need a good reason."
Steve sat up at her words. "Gen..." he said, his voice trailing off. "You can't put yourself at risk for him."
"Risk?" Geneva questioned, tilting her head. He tapped his forehead with his finger twice. She knew what he meant of course. She may be risking her health—her mental health, but she didn't want to hear that from him, not when he was willing to handle his so carelessly. She'd told herself that she was minding her own business by not questioning his health but now his wellbeing had become her business. "Steve," she said, allowing a bit of agitation to slip into her voice.
"I'm just worried that this won't be good for you."
She stood, and began to gather her things scattered around the training room. "I'm a big girl Steve, I can handle my own demons."
He made a noise of exasperation. "But you don't have to handle them alone."
A newfound anger bubbled inside her. "This is coming from the person who carries the world on his shoulders and never falters, even with the constant blows to his mind, his heart, and his body. I think it's you who needs to realize that you don't have to handle everything alone." Geneva turned back toward him, taking a calming breath. She could feel her anger dissolving as she met his hardened eyes. "I can worry, you can worry, but let's take our own advice before we try to help each other."
And with those words she forced her eyes away from his, leaving the room with an entirely different feeling than what she'd walked in with. Not only had the encounter bothered her in ways she wasn't ready to admit it also took an unforeseen turn very quickly.
Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the possibility of seeing Louis to anyone, least of all Steve. She'd been trying to ignore the idea of seeing the man, but the possibility was there. Steve was right but so was she. And she hated creating unnecessary problems but she just couldn't seem to hold her tongue.
it kinda took me a month to finish this chapter, cuz... school y'know? don't hate me. anyways, here's some more steve and gen before i start age of ultron. and maybe we might meet louis soon. let me know how you feel about this chapter in the comments. don't forget to vote. thanks for reading!
-syd