The Shield and the Rose || S. Rogers

Confrontation

Katherine's arrival overseas was the news that spread throughout the lab. Many were excited to have the younger of the Corbin sisters back around them, much to Victoria's agitation. After his conversation with Katherine over the phone, he himself was looking forward to seeing her back in his home rather than going to hers yet again.

As they walked into his apartment, Katherine set her bags down just behind the couch. Walking around plopping herself down, she glanced up at Kurt.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," she yawned.

"After how many nights I've now spent at your place? It's only fair," he shrugged with a grin. "You want a beer?"

"Do you really even need to ask if I do?"

"No," he laughed.

Grabbing the both of them bottles of beer from his fridge, he sat down beside her. She happily took one of the bottles, taking a large swig from hers. Kurt narrowed his eyes in her direction with a grin.

"Alright, so you didn't really tell me anything on the phone," he rolled his eyes and took a swig from his own beer. "What exactly happened that I was right about?"

"Kurt," Katherine grinned, her smile pure in its nature and Kurt could have even sworn that he had seen a glimmer in her eyes. "He really is in love with me."

"I told you!" Kurt grinned. "I've never seen a man that's as in love as he is."

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "It's odd. I've never felt like this before. It's always been either some sort of physical thing or a drunken deal, but with Steve," she gave a small shake of her head. "It's like I'm sad whenever I'm not with him. I'm always looking forward to being with him and he just makes things better."

"So, you're in love with him too?" he teased.

"I am," she laughed. "I can't believe how easy it was for me to tell him."

"I'm happy for you," he nodded with a smile.

"And when I'm with him, I don't even have to worry about anything Hydra related. I can just enjoy the day or the night or whatever it is," she took in a breath, thinking about the simple pleasure she'd felt doing something as seemingly small as decorating her apartment for Christmas with Steve.

Katherine confessed more of what had taken place as she talked to Kurt, him listening with a smile on his face. He was happy for her. He supposed they didn't often have the opportunities to live normally like others did, the idea of Katherine having a chance at experiencing even just a small sliver of it giving him a warm feeling.

As they sat there on the couch, they both knew that the days ahead were going to be busy. They both knew that they would both be in the labs on a daily basis, Kurt doing his normal daily tasks as Katherine was inevitably stolen each day to be shown something different. Even possibly being stolen to have her own mission discussed with her.

Yet, Katherine couldn't seem to find herself too terribly worried in that moment. She knew that she needed to stay alert as she remained in the vicinity of Hydra. But she had something to look forward to. A bit of normalcy each night before she returned to her bit normalcy back in New York.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Walking along the corridors of the facility, Katherine was suddenly reminded of why she loved her apartment as much as she did. It was dark in the building, fluorescent lights being the only way she could see what was around her.

"We had volunteers come in recently," Victoria informed Katherine as their footsteps echoed against the stone floor.

"Volunteers? What kind?" Katherine cautiously rose her brow.