This Is Stella's Reality

July 10, 2015

"Captain Rogers, there is urgent information being sent to you from Agent Barton," JARVIS spoke over the intercom.

Steve sighed, sweat lining his hairline as he held my hips steady against the bathroom counter. He peppered my skin with kisses and rocked into me a bit quicker.

I held his shoulder for stability, whining at the sudden change in his demeanor. His eyes were intensely blue and sharp as an eagle. One of his hands came to pinch my jaw, squishing my cheeks together.

"You're being so good for me," he breathed with a smirk appearing on his lips. He brought our lips together, soft yet firm.

A moan crept up my throat, and I let my head fall back. Steve's hand found my hair, pulling gently and chuckling at the sound I made.

I sighed, "Captain, please."

His thoughts raced for a moment, and his hips collided with mine at an impossible pace. "Fuck, Stel," he breathed into my ear as he came.

I bit my lip, shuddering under him as he rocked lazily against me a few more times. My body felt limp in his strong arms, like dead weight or jelly.

Carefully, he lifted me and placed me in the shower, turning on the hot water. "JARVIS," he called, "what is so important?"

"Agent Barton has possibly located the scepter," he said in his usually calm voice.

Steve and I both froze. Our eyes locked, and all my previous exhaustion and fogginess exited my mind. "Continue," Steve called.

"Using Loki's previous experience with the scepter along with paid Hydra intel, Agent Barton has concluded the scepter is located in the Eastern European micronation of Sokovia."

Despite the hot water running down my skin, my blood felt cold as ice. I gripped Steve's forearms, anxiety rattling through me.

His expression was unreadable. Calmly, he moved to pour body wash into his palms and lather it over me. "Tell the team to meet in conference room A in half an hour," he told JARVIS.

Steve's fingers wrapped under my chin and brought our eyes back together. "I'm going to look at those files, sweets. I love you," he said before washing the soap off his hands and leaving the shower.

The foggy outline of his frame disappeared past the view of the shower, and I heard our bedroom door open. It was Bucky; his voice carried into the echoing tiles of the bathroom.

"What's going on?" I heard him ask Steve.

The two talked for a while, likely going over the intel Clint had gathered. I sighed, thankful for the steaming shower and its ability to knock away my anxieties.

I shouldn't worry, I told myself. So much had changed since the last time the team was in the field. I was a goddess, my magic was stronger than ever, and we had yet another god join our ranks.

We were an unstoppable team. There was nothing for me to worry about, and yet my mind wouldn't stop spinning. Pressure grew behind my eyes, and I pinched them shut hoping it would stop.

But the pain only grew, and my hands flew to my temples. I remember shoving my head under the cascading water, hoping to drown out the excruciating ache.

Suddenly, as if I were being plunged into Antarctic water, my entire body froze and my thoughts were snapped elsewhere.

I saw myself, trekking through snow and dodging blue bullets between trees. Bucky and Loki were by my side as we took out tanks and cleared a path for the rest of the team.