twenty-seven
*•*.
"HE'S DEAD," Geneva said, as she slid into Natasha's and Steve's booth. The two stared wordlessly. She breathed in deeply, warming her lungs against the cold December air. She took one look at Steve's plate of uneaten food and slid it over to herself. He gingerly handed her a fork.
She ate the eggs first, her movements sluggish. "Did you—" Steve began.
"No, I didn't do it." She didn't elaborate, ignoring the feeling in her chest.
She continued eating.
"Then why do you look guilty," Natasha asked, lazily sipping from her mug.
Brown eyes met green. They shared a long look, challenging the other. "Because I am," she said finally, her eyes falling to the table. The worn wood had seen many years. It made her wonder just how many people sat there in that diner. "I thought I could bring him in. Not this time."
She gripped her fork tightly in her hand. It was almost as if she could still feel his eyes on her skin, feel his words burrowing their way into every corner of her mind.
Natasha hummed. "You're turning green."
"It's the eggs," she lied, stabbing the food with her utensil. "He killed my mother." Geneva shifted in her coat. "But I assumed as much."
Steve reached over the table, his hand warm on her wrist. "Geneva..." His voice trailed off. She looked at him. Both sadness and confusion floated in the sea of his eyes.
"I'm fine. Like I said: he's dead." His hand fell. She looked at Nat. "Can you pass the syrup?"
"No. Was he already dead when you got there?"
"Obviously not. He told me the Winter Soldier killed Howard and Maria Stark." Silence. She didn't have to look up from her plate. "You two knew."
"Please Geneva. If you would've read SHIELD's files—"
She interrupted Natasha. "Excuse me if I couldn't find the time to look through a bunch of encrypted bullshit. But just because I couldn't find the time doesn't mean someone else won't." Louis had. Geneva sucked her teeth. "When Tony finds out, you're going to be the bad guy Steve."
He sat up straighter. "I'll deal with it if it ever comes to that."
"Sounds like a plan." Geneva frowned. "And what about when Tony goes after Barnes and you have to pick a side?"
Steve narrowed his eyes. "That won't happen."
"I hope you're right," she said sincerely. "For all our sakes."
"You're upset," Natasha stated.
"No," Geneva let out. "I just want you to pass the damn syrup."
Natasha's jaw ticked, but nevertheless, she passed the syrup. Geneva cut into the nearly cooled pancakes, forcing the pieces into her mouth.
She watched as Steve abruptly stood. "Please get up, Geneva."
"I'm eating," she answered around her food.
"Get. Up." She measured the soft seriousness in his voice, then reluctantly stood, swallowing the pancakes.
"I'll be here," Nat said dryly. Geneva would have to apologize later.
She followed him out of the diner but not before grabbing his forgotten coat. She handed it to him and he wordlessly shoved it on, hiding his arms from sight. "You're doing that thing where you pretend to be angry about one thing when in reality, you're angry about something else entirely."
She tilted her head. "That's a thing I do?"
"That's a thing you do."
She sighed, her breath visible in the air. She thought of the conversation they were just having. "It's an awful situation that I think can be remedied before it ever escalates, saving Tony a world of hurt."
"Or putting him in a great deal more."
"Or that," she agreed, shivering. "Either way, it isn't something you can just try and take to the grave, hon. It isn't your responsibility to tell him, but it might be better coming from you than some stranger."
"I'll deal with it," he said, repeating his earlier words. She pursed her lips but said nothing more on the subject. She'd been surprised to hear the words from Louis's mouth and she was sure Steve would've said something had he known. She was wrong. She'd been more shocked by that than his admittance to killing her mother simply because somehow she'd known about the latter all along.
"I had the gun," she began, her words floating off her tongue in remembrance. "I had it in my hand and then... then he told me to do it."
"You're good at taking direction," he teased, even though they both knew it was hardly warranted.
She nodded, playing along. "So good." Geneva stared at her scuffed boots. She resisted the urge to reach down and rub at them. "No, but really. I wasn't going to be goaded into doing it. Those women wanted to kill him though and—well I'm sure you understand the rest."
He nodded. "If they try to accuse you—"
"I'll deal with it," she murmured, mocking his previous words. "Regardless, I didn't really do anything wrong. It wasn't my job to bring him in, I just thought I should try."
Leaving Louis there wasn't the morally right thing to do—she knew that, and yet remorse was not high on her list of emotions at the moment.
When he didn't say anything, she gave him a questioning look. "I'm just processing," he assured her.
"Would you like to talk about something else?" She didn't wait for an answer, nodding. After a short pause she asked, "What was your favorite thing about your life before the ice and Captain America?"
He squinted, obviously grateful for something else to talk about. "There aren't many things to choose from. Things weren't so great. I was sick a lot and was bullied lot more. There was a depression and a war. Segregation." He blew out a breath. "Definitely my mother—Sarah—and Bucky. They were all I had."
"Sarah," she repeated. They watched each other. "You never told me her name."
"Ask me what you want to know and I'll gladly tell you."
"Good," she said. She hoped he knew it was the same for him with her. There was a long bout of silence. "If we stay out here any longer I'm gonna freeze my ass off."
Without protest, Steve moved to the door, holding it open for her. "We definitely don't want that to happen," he muttered as she passed.
She lightly smacked his arm. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." He kissed her temple, and she breathed him in. He was trying to get her mind off of what happened, if only for a second. It was well appreciated. Her lips tugged up at the corners.
Natasha eyed them as the approached. "You two done gazing into each other's eyes?"
"For now," Gen chuckled.
hey!! ca: civil war is coming. hope you enjoy. thanks for reading.
-syd