She Lives On

At The Compound

(Steve's POV)
I adjust my position on the couch. I know I should probably be heading up to bed because it's getting late. But the memories don't stop flooding through my brain. I sigh quietly and close my eyes, giving into the memories fighting for my attention.

(Flashback to when Steve and Nat first got together.)

"Hey Nat are you okay? You seem... sad." I ask her. I notice that she had been acting more depressed lately although I've been trying my very best to keep her occupied and have been trying to find new things for us to do together.

"Yeah Steve I'm fine." She replies quickly. "I'm doing fine. Billions of people are dead and I'm still alive. So I'm doing better then most people." She mutters.

It's hard to see her like this. She always appeared so confident before. But I know that having all these people dead is making her think that she failed and that she should be one of those dead people. I'm not sure what to say, so instead, on impulse, I reach out to grab her hand.

"Look, there's nothing we can do right now to bring them back. Believe me, I would do anything to bring everyone back. But we can't. We should try to move on and help as many living people as we can." I add.

The expression on Nat's face changes quickly from sadness to pain and regret and anger. She yanks her hand from mine and stands up abruptly.

"How?!" She demands. "It's just you and me. Most of the other Avengers are dead and the ones who aren't have moved on and have left. They don't even seem to care!"

She starts to leave the room and I quickly stand up and run to catch up to her. Nat tries to walk faster but ends up tripping over a magazine that had been tossed on the floor. I reach out fast to wrap my arm around her waist to keep her from falling and I pull her up next to me. Only then do I realize how close our faces are. A few inches. And our bodies pressed together. I keep my arm around her waist and stare down into her gorgeous green eyes and she gazes up at me. I give a small smile until I see a few tears fall down onto her cheeks and I quickly wipe them away.

I pull her into a hug and wrap both arms around her. One arm around her waist and the other around her back. I can feel her shaking a little and I squeeze her tighter. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me and places her head on my chest. For the first time in a while, I feel warm and comforted. I feel safe next to her. She's my best friend and always makes me feel better.

We stay in that position for a while. Neither of us wanting to move. Finally, after what seems like a very long time Nat pulls away gently, still clinging to my hand. We gaze into each other's eyes for a minute then she gives a small smile and turns to leave. I stare after her and I already miss the warmth of her body pressed against mine.

I decide that it's best to give her some space to be alone and to process what just happened between us. I start to worry that she found the hug uncomfortable and long. I know I definitely enjoyed it. But did she? Sure we've hugged before, but never for this long and it had never felt as good as that one just did. Does Nat think it was anything other than our normal hugs? Not that we've had that many.

I try to get it out of my mind before I start stressing and I turn back to the kitchen to make two peanut better sandwiches. One for me and one for Nat. I figure she must be hungry since I haven't seen her eat all day.

I walk down a few hallways before arriving at her door. I knock lightly and say "Delivery!" I hear her shuffling around before she comes and opens the door. A small smile plays on her lips as her eyes land on the sandwiches. I hand her a plate.

"Thank you kind sir." She says in a reading voice.

"Well I gotta make sure you eat." I reply. Then I worry that that was a rude thing to say, but she just smiles and gestures for me to take a seat with her and the small table in her room.

We sit there for a while looking out the window and talking. Then when we're done our sandwiches, we play a few card games before I excuse myself to go workout. As much I want to stay with Nat, it is very clear that she hasn't been sleeping very well, indicated by what appears to be purplish bruises under her eyes, so I encourage her to sleep. She sighs and nods before giving me a quick hug.

"Thanks." She whispers.

I smile and leave the room.

A/N
I hope you guys like it so far. Don't worry, I'll be writing more about Steve and Nat! If you have any suggestions please comment! And don't forget to vote if you enjoyed! :)