Winter's Nightmare

Piano Man

Steve's POV 6 AM

He went to bed thinking of the party and Lia. He had been a little worried last night when he'd been waiting for Lia's answer to his question. Only to find out she hadn't even been listening. Then she'd misunderstood what he was asking her, but it didn't matter because in the end she'd said yes to going on a date with him. The smile on her face when he'd confirmed he was asking her out had made the butterflies in his stomach shoot straight up to his heart.

Everything about Lia was perfect in Steve's eyes. She was kind, caring and she wanted to help people even after so much bad had happened to her. She was beautiful and talented in so many ways. Steve was glad he'd had Asgardian liquid courage otherwise he didn't think he'd have been able to ask her out. The combination of her being in his arms and New York lit up at night had made it feel like the moment was finally right.

Steve woke up even earlier than he usually did this morning from excitement for Saturday. He decided to get an early jump on his morning run to get some of his excess energy out. Getting into his groove about five miles out he let his mind wander back to last night before they'd all gone to bed.

Everyone had been sitting around swapping stories like usual when Tony had abruptly gotten up and walked over to Lia. No one else had noticed that she'd gotten quiet and withdrawn, but Tony had. He watched as Tony and Lia had slowly danced and talked quietly while some of the others had danced around them.

They looked very serious and sad. Then Tony had gotten tense. Steve had been worried until Tony had smiled at whatever it was Lia had said and hugged her. She must have been remembering something from her time with Hydra. She hadn't been getting as melancholy in the last couple of months as she used to be when she first got here, but every now and then he would catch her staring off into space with a sad look on her face.

Lia said usually when that happened she was remembering a mission she'd been sent on or her training. There were large gaps of time that she still couldn't remember or not able to remember clearly. She said that even though they were bad memeories she wanted to remember all of it so she could make things right as best she could and work through it all so she wouldn't be held back by it.

When Tony had said his goodnights to everyone Steve had gone over to dance with her. He loved having Lia in his arms. She wasn't big on being touched and he didn't blame her after finding out what Hydra had done to her, but every now and then she'd impulsively give someone a hug or place a hand on their shoulder. With Tony, Steve or Loki she'd hug and cuddle whenever she wanted.

They made her feel safe enough and had never turned her away when she was needing to be held. Steve liked being on that short list because she didn't give her trust out easily. And from talking to her about the man who'd betrayed her he knew once that trust was gone he'd never be able to get it back.

The one time they had talked about her being kidnapped she hadn't said much because of the gaps in her memory. She remembered his first name, his face and what she had felt for him, but not much else. Steve had asked her to draw him once so that they might be able to track him down. Lia had refused. Saying that even picturing his face would make her physically sick and send her into a panic attack.

So he had backed off. On his own he'd tried to search for any and all James' associated with Hydra in 2013. The list was long and none had been documented being in or around Seattle at that time. Steve knew that for Lia not knowing if he was still out there made her afraid that he might track her down. He had let her know that he would never let anything happen to her.

Not wanting to sour his mood, Steve used the methods Olivia had been teaching him to clear his mind. Recently he'd learned that his thoughts affected Lia more than the others. His mind was too loud and she had a harder time blocking him out even with the dampening jewelery Tony had made her. As part of her therapy she'd invited him to join her so Olivia could help them both. Steve was able to now just enjoy his run in peace for the first time since he woke up from the ice.