Krystal

50

I question Stephen later that day when we're alone. The Avengers all seemed to be acting really weird around me the entire day, even before the fight so I was worried.

"They don't like me, do they?"

Maybe it's because they know even less about me than I know about myself? To them I'm just some stranger.

"Trust me, if they didn't like you then they would've said something by now" he attempts to reassure me.

"If you say so. I'm gonna go get ready for bed so I'll see you in the morning".

"Goodnight, Star".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I'm ready for bed it's pretty late, but I'm kind of thirsty so I head downstairs to get a glass of water.

When I walk into the kitchen, I find Steve there holding an ice pack on his ribs, which makes me feel even worse then I already did because I was the cause of it.

"Does it still hurt?" I ask and seem to startle him a little.

"Sorry. I didn't think anybody else would still be up this late" he removes the ice pack before casually throwing it to one side.

"Can I see?"

"I'm fine, honestly" he answers bluntly, in a clear effort to avoid my help.

"So do you often make a habit of sneaking around in the middle of the night when you're 'fine' to get ice packs when you think nobody else is awake?" I laugh.

"I'm just a little sore, that's all".

I poke him where I knew he was injured when he tries to walk past me and he winces with pain, making it obvious that he was lying to me.

"Maybe a little more than sore" he admits.

"Just let me see it. Please?"

Once he lifts his shirt up at one side, I can see how bad his bruises are and I may have even cracked a couple of his ribs.

"Take off your shirt" I ask so I can heal him.

He was even more muscular than I'd originally suspected. I really hope he didn't just hear me gulp when I saw him take it off.

"Just remember to breathe for me" I instruct him as I summon my magic into my hands.

His bruising and pain starts to fade away slowly when I lay my hands on top of his injury.

"Where did you learn how to do this?"

"I read a lot of books about healing these days. Figured it would be useful someday and it would appear I was right".

"You're a pretty good fighter, by the way".

"You noticed that when you were laying flat on your back, did you?" I jokingly question.

"Okay, you got me there. You won fair and square" he laughs a little.

"I'm sorry if I went too far today. I just didn't want you to think I was weak".

"Why not?"

"I might not know much, but I know that you guys are these superhero badasses that defend the world from evil".

"And you decided to show off what you can do?"

"I guess so".

"We might be what most people call 'superheroes', but we still make mistakes and still lose from time to time. You make those mistakes and lose so you can learn from it".

"Damn, Mr Rogers. That's some seriously deep philosophical motivation right there. How does it feel now?"

He looks down and sees that he's now fully healed and the pain is completely gone, so he moves around to test it out.

"Good as new, thanks to you".

"Well you know what they say? You break it you fix it, or something like that".

I grab myself a glass from the cupboard and fill it up.

"Actually, it's you break it you bought it".

"Well I don't actually have any money, so you'll just have to settle for being fixed. Goodnight, Mr Rogers" I smile as I walk back upstairs with my water in hand.

"You can call me Steve".

"Then goodnight, Steve".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't sleep well at all that night.

As soon my alarm clock shows that it's five, I get dressed and decide to go out for a run. I like to jog, but only when there's not many people around because it's a lot quieter.

Normally I'd wait for Stephen to wake up and come with me, but today I wanted to be alone. I go to the park and run for an hour before I sit down on the grass to rest.

I like being outside, but it's normally too busy and hectic, with the people seemingly living their lives around one another instead of together.

Sometimes I feel like I'd be a lot happier and more comfortable off in the woods somewhere with less noise and people.

"Mind if I join you?" Steve asks me out of nowhere.

"What are you doing out here?"

"The same thing as you I guess".

"You don't sleep well either, huh?"

"Not really, but running helps clear my head".

"I just like the quiet" I admit.

"Do you want me to go?"

"No, come sit" I pat the ground next to me so he does.

"So what's it like training with Strange?"

"Living with him and Wong is kind of like living with two protective older brothers. Stephen's more strict and serious, but Wong makes the training fun".

"You're lucky to have come crashing through their roof then" he smiles.

"Stephen said he thinks that I came to them for a reason".

"And you don't?"

"I honestly have no idea and that's what scares me the most. Not knowing who I was before all of this doesn't exactly feel good".

"Would you want to remember, if you could?"

"If you would've asked me that question months ago I probably would've said yes, but now? No" I answer him honestly.

"Why not?"

"What sort of person must I have been before that it's been six months now, and not a single person has showed up here looking for me? Didn't I have any parents, no brothers or sisters, not even a single friend? Is anybody out there even missing me at all right now?" I sigh.

"I'm sure there must be someone who does".

"And what if there isn't? Maybe I chose to forget my old life on purpose because it was so meaningless and lonely that it wasn't even worth remembering?"

"I can't pretend that I can relate to what you're going through, but if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or just someone to talk to, you can always talk to me".

"Thanks, Steve".

"Come on. I'll race you back to The Sanctum".