Forever Friends

Chapter 5: Hydra

When you wake up, you are laying in your tent with Steve sitting quietly beside you. Reality hits you once again as a fresh wave of misery.

"Steve?" You ask as tears flood your throat, "What happened?"

Steve shifts and lifts you up, pulling you into his lap before burying his head in your chest. You feel him tremble as uncontrollable sobs escape his body. You hold him close, both of you releasing the emotions that threaten to overwhelm you. "We made it all the way to the train they were using to transport the weapons when this... this thing came out of nowhere," he shakes his head. "Y/N, they've harnessed the tesseract's power. They have weapons like I've never seen. No one needs that much power- not even us." He stares blankly ahead, "We were fighting one of the men that had some cannon-type device, but it had so much power. One shot was all it took to blow out the side of the train. Bucky was right there. He was holding on and I had almost made it to him. He just..." he breaks again, loud audible sobs escaping his lips, "He just slipped, Y/N. He slipped from my grip. Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

You wrap him as tight as you can in your arms, "You did everything you could, Steve. I'm so sorry!" You try controlling your sob as you comfort Steve. He just saw his best friend die and here I sit having my own pity party. You two sit like this for a while, holding one another until Steve leans back into your cot and you finally fall asleep.

After a few hours, you awake, looking up at Steve's sleeping face. You can't help but admire how beautiful he is. At least he got to make things right with Bucky. I'm at least glad for that. You kiss his cheek softly, not wanting to wake him. As you start to climb off the cot and go to the lab, he reaches out and grabs your hand.

"Please don't leave me alone," he whispers. His eyes plead, "Stay."

You look down seeing his bloodshot eyes. "Always," you whisper before climbing back onto the bed with him.

He rolls on his side, allowing you to lie facing him. He half smiles at you, "I know you loved him, Y/N- maybe not the way you love me but... I know this is killing you as much as it is me."

You stop him by leaning up and planting a soft kiss on his lips. When you start to pull back, his hand slips up to your face, pulling you back. You feel his tongue slip over yours as you lean in closer.

"I love you so much," he whispers, staring into your eyes.

His hand travels down your body, resting on your butt, squeezing slightly. As his kiss deepens, it feels like time slows down. He rolls slightly on top of you, kissing, his strong hands exploring your body. Your fingers run over his strong chest, his muscles rippling beneath his shirt. You slowly pull it off between kisses.

His face suddenly turns very serious, "Y/N, are you sure?" He whispers, looking deeply into your eyes for any sign of hesitation.

You nod, smiling up at him, while his hands grip your sides. "I know what I want," you whisper.

You feel his kisses slow down before sitting you up and carefully removing your dress. The two of you spend the night in sweet bliss, wrapped up and exploring one another.

You are ripped from sleep several hours later by a loud explosion. You see it's dark outside but there is an odd glow coming from the direction of the boom. You recognize immediately what was hit by the fading blue light.

"The lab!" You scream as you grab Steve's jacket and a skirt.

Steve throws on his shirt and pants before you both run to what remains of the lab. It has been reduced to almost nothing. You look around at the destruction. You set to work for what seems like hours, digging through the rubble. Steve is helping carry people from the wreckage to the medical tent.